I work, I love, I play. Pretty much the same thing they do, I'll bet.

People who are christians realise things and think about things such as death. But you will probably find that non-christians will think about it a lot less and so don't really care about it.

I'm not a chirstian but i've read the bible and in summary Jesus taught the religion of reason placing love above all else. I guess you can be a hindu/Muslim/etc... and still be a christian in heart. There is order in the world. A universal truth would be - if you feed a begger on the street, you naturally feel lighter as you're walking home. if you steal money from your friend, you feel anxious and it weighs heavy on you. So logically there is order in the world, and truth is goodness as this is the only thing that brings you peace of mind. So we fly life like angels, dancing laughing and spreading white light... :) lol...and if God did exist, tell him i think he's got a hell of a sense of humor and we're all laughin with him :) lol

I "make it" the same way that the overwhelming majority of the Earth's (non-Christian) population does. I just live my life the best way I know how, and hope that I have "chosen correctly." I think that's all that anyone can do, be they Christian or non-Christian (as I am). It always amazes me how so many people will believe their parents when they tell them about the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy (then suddenly abandon those beliefs, with maturity), but these same folks will continue to cling to the idea that an ordinary human being can "miraculously" come back to life, after being dead for three days.

logic!

I think it's useful to consider the unspoken assumptions in such a question: in particular, the vague general presumption that one requires "sustaining"... that life is such a difficult ordeal by default that only a savior or deity could possibly provide sufficient support to assist us poor struggling victims in our journey to the end of it. Isn't that really the church's primary product? The belief that you are in bad shape and need help? That poor little you cannot hope to cope without the church's solution? It's never a surprise to me to listen to preachers go on and on about how terrible and painful life is -- that's their job. Just as in any sales organization, one must "sell the problem, then sell the solution". You have to get the "customer" to believe they need your thing before you can get them to reach for the Mastercard. It's a technique as old as the hills. But, is it true? Do I indeed need the product the church is selling? Well, certainly there have been hard times in my life, no question about that. But when I look back, what I see is that those were also the times when I learned most of what I really needed to understand: compassion for others, knowing where my boundaries are, the importance of perseverance, how to function well in the face of pain and suffering, and when to recognize that a problem isn't really mine to solve. And here I am. Stronger by far than I was when I was 20, much wiser and more capable. Will my life ever be free of problems? No, I'm not counting on that at all. Will I suffer more in the future? Almost surely. But, overall, do I trust myself to take a look at each situation, dust off my hands, and take it on as needed? Yes, I do. And the confidence that comes from having done that sort of thing many times is something I would not trade for a hundred "saviors". But to return to this bit about the underlying presumption the preacher is selling -- that I am broken, that life is broken, that without salvation by an external agent, wholeness cannot be achieved... what about that? To me, it's simply a lie. I am not broken, life is not broken. All problems and troubles are specific and limited, they do not reach out and soak all of humanity and the whole universe. The universe and life as a whole are complete and whole as they are, and do not require repair. People come and go, problems come and go, but life keeps on growing and changing and sprouting ever-more-vibrant forms, with no sign of needing salvation.

It seems to me that Christ is the answer to worries that only Christians have. I don't need Christ to give meaning to my life because I don't expect life to have meaning. I don't worry about my salvation after death because I don't expect any existence after death. I don't need Christ to give me rules for my behaviour because I derive my rules from respect for my fellow humans. I simply don't have the worries that Christians seem to have.

Here are my thoughts Karen Ann...I have met Atheists who are far more Christ-like then some Christians who attend church, memorize verses of the Bible and keep talking about their religion. By that I mean our highest purpose in my mind is to love one another..be kind to one another..and be useful. If you are only kind and loving to those who agree with you I think you miss the point of being a human being. If you believe God created all of us, then you should be able to accept the fact that He sees things in others that you might not be able to see..valuable things, useful things. I had a plaque that said "God Does Not Make Junk". I believe that..do you? Happy Thursday and I'm glad to see that you are still here m'dear! :)

I used to be Christian and the church must say so to stay alive. Now that I'm out of the church I'm sustained exactly by what I was sustained by before, the only difference is that I've waked up from the dream and don't need to say "thank you Jesus" or "if it's in God's will" or so.

It is all in the belief. The Hindus have over a couple of million Gods to look up to. There is no God in some other faiths but we all survive without them too. We all latch on to some things in life which have more meaning to us and that becomes our God. Sometimes those are material things and sometimes it is invisible. But it is faith which sustains everyone.I do not know if you have any idea about Hinduism but our God is called Brahman!We can only call it THAT! No name!Only if you become self realized can you understand THAT!So the rest of the Hindus pray to the forms and not the formless!

I do not want to be blasphemous or offensive to any faith or community. I treat every religion with the utmost reverence, though I follow only one, the faith I was born in. Christianity has been around for only about 2000 of the 500,000 years of the history of man. Even if we jump the time-line to, say, 4000 BC, we find well established societies with their own moral codes, their own religions, their own places of worship for their spiritual advancement. True, they may not be as decorative or grand as the mighty cathedrals that came up in the Middle Ages, but they did provide to the simple peoples a focus and guide for the development of the human spirit. The Christians who came on the scene much later superposed their own set of not-particularly-superior values on the humble folk through cajolement and violence, not necessarily in that order. They succeeded at it simply because they had technology on their side. I have read the Bible in parts, and am a proud product of a Jesuit institution, but I shall not accept any "saviour" whether s/he be Christ, or any other prophet, including Zoroaster, whose simple doctrine I follow. Guide, yes; Saviour, no. Those who express sentiments such as you mention in your question are plainly being presumptuous and patronising. I am quite capable of living my life by my own moral code, which is (i) the Universal Code of Morality (Good thoughts, Good words and Good deeds), and (ii) respect for the Law of the land. And if I err, I shall hold myself, and myself alone, responsible and face the consequences of my transgressions, without recourse to some artificial refuge of a spiritual Saviour who supposedly has already paid the price on my behalf. If I have offended you, Karen, or any other reader, I want to assure you that it was not my intention. But the question did touch a raw nerve.

Try turning that question on it's head. How can you make it in the world without: Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Allah, Heroin, etc? The Truth sustains me. That I don't need a bunch of fairy tales to make it through life. I'm much too mature for fairy tales.

Uhhh easy. I'm really happy, i love life. I disagree with religions. There are too many. Religion labells people, causes arguments allll the time. And not to think of all the wars in the past. Animals are a large part of my life, i guess they keep me sane? In a way. But i dont need a god to be happy.

I feel pretty much the same as I do right now as when I was a Christian. That is, I don't feel any further or closer to God. So, I "make it" just as well as anyone else, I suppose.

I don't find existing to be that much of a struggle, to be honest. I don't have anything that 'sustains' me, I don't really need anything to fill such a hole in my life as my life does not have that hole... But, things that make me happy are nature, reflecting on positive social changes, thinking about the vastness of the universe, the absurdness of chance, all the possibilities in my future and how much power I at least SEEM to have over choosing some of these possibilities. Laughing with friends, eating chocolate, reading journals, books, blogs and novels, going for walks, watching birds fly outside my window, shutting the curtains to do my stupid dances, and on and on...

That's kind of ignorant of them to say, IMO. I rely on myself, and, to a lesser extent, on my friends and boyfriend to cheer me up and provide me with advice when I need it. And I am sustained by food. :P

Happiness,love and romance.

I face it, head on, and laugh. I've been through hell, it doesn't scare me. The closest analogy I can think of, is this. . The monster under my bed will eat me if I fall asleep with any part of my body uncovered by blankets. How do you sleep with blankets only up to your shoulders? . I don't fear what you fear. Therefore I don't feel the need to protect myself from what you do.

Just do. Love, gratitude and food sustain me.

I don't find that I need much sustaining. I am a former Christian, and when I was a Christian, I found that I had a lot more problems. I think this was due to the particular church and school that I was attending. A lot of churches continuously tell people that life is 'difficult', 'a struggle', 'full of sin', 'filled with tough times'. The church and school I attended told me those things, and told me that I needed Jesus to fix my problems. I believe that a lot of the problems that we need Christ to get through are not actually real problems at all, they are just made to seem that way. I have found that I can be very self-reliant. I don't need much to help me get through issues in my life, I can do it on my own.

I have always said this even when I considered my self a good catholic girl......Religion is a crutch used by the weak (people don't like that).....and i no longer have use for my crutch. I make it by depending on my family and friends for support....and in comparison to thinking you have God on your side it is a bit more lonely......But I just can't believe any longer....It is too "out there" for me. So in short: I sustain me, that's all I need

Many of us have never developed any dependency on anything from outside our inner nature and inner strength. If we all are created by a Divine Supreme Being, it follows then that within each one of us there is certain portion of inherent divinity. A portion of that magnificent essence from which everything emanated and to which we all are connected. What for then we need a man-made thing so conflicting and problematic such as religion?. I believe with vehemence that the biggest burden men have imposed upon themselves is the burden of religion, from which there seems to be no deliberance. Religion, with its steeply blind asininity and insanity, has prevented and discouraged many people from tapping into their own inherent divine aspect of their being, and were able to tapping into it when they were able and willing to transcend the fictitious boundary of religion. I should know. I'm one of those people. I search and raech from within--it's all there. This I know very well.

I'm going to tell you, your question offends me deeply. Are Chr*st**ns so deeply entrenched in the self-imposed enforcement of ignorance that they literally cannot imagine anyone else being happy and spiritually or personally sustained? Anyone else can be as happy and uplifted in their religion (or irreligion) as can a Chr*st**n, and as happy and content in their lives as a Chr*st**n. Possibly more so, as most of them are not using their religions as a crutch, as do Chr*st**ns. We get off on life and the beauty that it has to offer, something that Chr*st**ns ignore all too much.

(ignore this)