Not having religion does not mean you don't have hopes, desires and dreams nor does it mean that you can't find purpose in life. It's just that the purpose is different from those who are religious.

Well for one thing to my (a atheist) I like to see the world, and maybe even beyond that. Just because I dont believe in god, or any theology doesnt mean I dont want to experience the beauty of the world, or cuddle up with my BF. If heaven is supposed to be so good and what not what about the same question to theists

Jumpin' jimminy christmas, this is hard not to take the wrong way. I don't commit suicide because I am alive. I have hopes, dreams and desires. I just know that when I die, I hope to have made someone's life a little better so that as they live, I will have made their life a little better, and perhaps they will take that thought and make someone else's life better. Pay it forward. Why? Why not?

Atheists do not believe in god. They do not (by and large, I have never met one that did) believe we are simply accidental. Evolution is not accidental. However how we got here is broadly irrelevant. Why live with the things you mention? Because we have only one attempt at this life (we don't believe in something afterwards). I am not living in hope for another life, just biding my time. I am living for now because it is all I have. There is no reason to live a miserable life, much better to live a fun life whilst you have the opportunity. There is no reason to live a life with no purpose to it, much better to decide a purpose and live for it every day. There is no reason in living without hope, much better to actively change the world for the better and make hope for all. No point not having desires, if you don't act on them now you aren't going to have much opportunity when dead. Atheists as a rule (although the only thing that connects atheists is a lack of belief in God) do not believe there is no purpose to existence. We GIVE existence meaning. We have evolved sentience for one reason or another and to not make best use of what we are presented with would be foolish. So we use our society, intelligence and compassion to give the world meaning and purpose. So why don't we commit suicide? Well all the reasons above and there is more or less a common thread. I am alive now, I don't care for now how I got here, I have no reason to think there is anything else after this life so I had best make the most of it whilst I have the opportunity. And other than that why cause hurt and harm to my friends and family? There are moral dimensions to this as well (which, yes atheists are just as moral as any theist).

God put it in them to live. Romans 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. God built all of us upright, and that includes the inherent desire to live. Ecclesiastes 7:29 "Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices." God built the basic desire to live, create, procreate, discover and learn into everyone. Genesis 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Even though, along the way, many refuse life over and over until they become stale in their desire, whether they end it all themselves or just wait until the day they think will never come. :/ as with those, as with these... 1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 1 Timothy 4:2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, Besides, every one apart from God seems to have thier own explanation for remaining alive and of an afterlife, if any, of one sort or another. This is called, self-idolatry. Even though, His thoughts and intentions are always for good... Matthew 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Amen.

I am an atheist. My life has a lot of meaning. Simply because the love I feel and act upon doesn't emanate from a god does not mean it is accidental. It means I rely on myself to provide motivation for living a purposeful, enjoyable life rather than a god. I assure you it is completely deliberate. I'm the result of a long and storied chain of DNA that continues after me. Religion is not the opposite of chance or accident. I love this journey and I find it full of meaning that I never could have imagined had I not lived it.

It sounds like you have a confused idea of where the meaning in life comes from: hope, dreams, and desires are not the source of the meaning in life, neither is belief in God or any other metaphysical principle. (Note: I'm not an atheist, but that's another matter) In order to understand what "a meaningful life" is, you have to LIVE life, instead of merely THINKING about it. It's like the difference between being playing the sport and watching it: the person in the stands makes a lot of commentary about the game, and offers their opinions, and analyzes it, etc. The person on the field isn't like that at all, they are PLAYING with all their heart and mind. The game is meaningful for them, because they have "become one" with the game in a certain sense... full engagement and full participation eliminate the sense of being separated from the whole wonderful drama. The person in the stands may get a certain flavor of that engagement, but it's not nearly as complete... they can talk on their cell phone, go get a hot dog, check out the attractive person three rows up, etc... there's a separation between them and the game, and in the stands it seems reasonable in that separation to ask "what is the meaning of all this?". If the person on the field is asking that, the ball whacks them in the head! So questions like these are actually the result of spending too much time sitting in the stands, and not enough time on the field. If you get enough playing time, you and the game become one incredible dance, as rich and meaningful as it can be. That silences all speculation about meaning.

Just cos i dont believe in God, doesnt mean im not human. All humans hope, dream etc. Its not like God makes you more special. Athiests are not freaks, we are just as human as everyone else. Also, if you believe in God, why dont you kill yourself and join Him? Surely thats more fun.

As an atheist, I don't commit suicide because I enjoy my life. I do not need endorsement from your god or any other to make it worthwhile. I find my hope, dreams and desires to be plentiful. I do not, unlike believers, perceive my biggest joy and rewards to lie on the other side of death. I think our joy and rewards are right here and right now...which makes me even less inclined to get off the ride early. Not due to fear of being punished by god because I cashed in our ticket early either. I find it interesting that the promised reward of heaven has to be sandwiched with the threat of damnation if you try to get in early through suicide. Why do you think that is? I think it's because the belief system that promotes the afterlife as the BEST life is more in danger of encouraging suicide than atheism. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE MALICIOUS. Added to address comment: Yes, I suspected you would strongly disagree. Your strongly anti-atheist postings have painted a fairly clear picture of your views. Here is something to ponder. Exactly who is living the double life? The atheist who has his/her own reasons for sticking around or the believer who , in service of his god, MUST remain here until called "home"?

Don't see why I need a meaning for all things to enjoy a lazy sunday morning, or hot coffee, or laughter or the people I love. Existence not having a purpose doesn't negate the enjoyment you feel for life, or the meaning you choose to put into it. I have no purpose, therefore I am free to make anything my purpose. I am free to enjoy my meaningless coffee. To turn the question around, why do those that feel after death they will learn a mystery, be free from pain and strife, or live eternally forever happy, kill themselves? Seems like they would want to end this life sooner since they have something better waiting for them, whereas the existentialist believes that they should live as long as possible in case being dead sucks.

Every life has meaning, hopes, dreams and desires, no matter your religion or beliefs, whether we agree with that meaning/purpose or not). Every baby stillborn, every baby born to live a few minites, hours, days, weeks, months, or years touch their families in some way. Every jerk, bully, gang member, killer, rapist, and abuser did and still do - though in part, it may be little more than to show others how NOT to live, but it IS a purpose. Heck, even Bin Laden, though many would think his life is not worth it. (and no... I very much disagree with his "hopes, dreams, desires" and current purpose). We may not understand the purpose, or their "hopes, dreams and desires", but I, personally, believe this is true.

You have no idea what it means to be anything besides you. My father was athiest. He valued life more than any religious person because he believed that, as an accident, his life was far more precious than one created, watched over and preserved by a god. Being without a belief in a god doesn't make one empty, hopeless or devoid of love and dreams.

If god and all this so called meaning to life and having some divine purpose is what's keeping YOU from committing suicide....you're in a lot shakier boat than us atheist.

Being here by natural accident doesn't mean you can't be happy and hopeful with what you have. I really don't get why that's so hard for religious people to see.

I am not an atheist but I would like to answer your question. I hope that you do not mind. I know that you stated that your question was not meant to be malicious but you know deep inside that those that do not share your belief will become offended. Regardless if life is seen as a mistake or on purpose it is still life which means we all have the same instinct to survive. Looking at life through the eyes of the believer you know that every creature was made by God (even those who choose not to believe). So if you strip away what you believe everyone is the same. A true believer simply does not commit suicide because they fear what will happen if they do. If you do then you lost the plot. If any of us choose to believe out of fear then we do not really have a clue what life is about. Believers and non-believers alike can agree that life has been given to each of us. the reason will vary from person to person but in the end we all exist. I can't really speak for atheist but I would guess that they do not commit suicide because while they do have this gift of life they want to enjoy it while it last. A strong lesson (some) believers should learn to not fear what may happen but be thankful for what we all have. Being a believer myself I find it somewhat disturbing that many of us can't learn that as human beings on this earth we have a chance to enjoy life to it's fullest if we learn a little tolerance and allow everyone to believe what they want and if we feel the urge to help others see things a certain way we do it by example and not by pressure. If we have to destroy someone else's beliefs to make ours seem better then we helped no one. It is far better to allow others to see the beauty in what we believe then to try and scare them away with pressure. If my answer has offended anyone I truly apologize.

One can make the argument that life is more beautiful and fascinating following the laws of nature rather than the laws of God. In fact, you could flip your question: Why don't theists commit suicide? If life is predetermined without meaning, why continue to live with hope, dreams, and desires if you are merely some being created solely to worship an invisible, almighty father figure? The question is a bit flawed, as you can see. I'd go into a bit more detail, but I honestly don't want to put forth any more effort than I already have: discussing these topics in this forum is a pointless waste of time.

Atheists do not commit suicide because they enjoy their lives the same as most people. In fact, I'd think Atheists would be less likely to commit suicide, as they believe that is the complete and total end of their existence.

its not meant to be malicious, but it is. why don't religious people commit suicide so they can get to God quicker?

Life has many pleasurable things in it. I exist to enjoy these things. Helping others to enjoy themselves prolongs my ability to enjoy life myself. The question implies that it is impossible for anyone to develop their own purpose in life, that we are all mindless creations of some vague mythical Deity. I would say that we all have brains and imaginations, and as such existence need not have some pattern stretching backwards into the past and forwards into the future to justify a purpose in the present. Besides, you really haven't put much thought into the concept of atheism. While atheism is only about Deities and doesn't cover Afterlives, I think I'm safe in saying that most atheists think that this life is the only life one ever gets. If you only get one life, then committing suicide is incredibly wasteful of your chances at good food, entertainment, and sex.

Just because I don't believe in some deity at the helm of my fate doesn't mean that my life is without purpose. It is often hope, dreams, and desires that make life worth living. Even though I find my reason for being outside the sphere of god, that doesn't mean my life is any less meaningful. Besides, if people didn't like playing games of chance, we wouldn't have the lottery or casinos. You speak of the hypocrisy of atheists, but aren't you guilty of that yourself by judging us? Most religions preach tolerance, love, and acceptance, yet their followers ignore this so they can beat other people over the head with their beliefs. If religion is a personal choice, why do so many people make it into a contest where they gloat about being on the winning side? Where is the purpose in that?

Nobody ever said that you can't enjoy accidents. Surely, you know this....

Most atheists don't commit suicide because they want to fully enjoy the only life that they get to live. I'm an agnostic and my life is not an accident. My mother and father fully intended for me to be born. My life is full of purpose and meaning even if it's not devoted to the implementation of an online theocracy. ;)

who says they don't. my mother was an atheist, she killed herself, it depends on your circumstances (i.e.terminal illness)surely it is part of the human physce that rather than face more pain regardless of your beliefs your need of relief outweighs any moral scruples or belief you have.

I find it humorous that you, aQuib, so easily mistake an Atheist with a Nihilist. Atheists reject religious higher powers. They reject that there is a God, or a supreme being. That doesn't mean that they can't believe that we're alive to live and that we should make the most of it. It's really faulty to assume this. Nihilists, on the other hand, reject all moral and religious principles, believing only that life is meaningless. Don't mix the two up... you'll come out sounding malicious.

I'm not an atheist. But I have an idea of what you are trying to say... About half of the people whom I know who have committed suicide were either atheist or agnostic. They are no more likely to commit suicide than anyone else. Where did you get this idea?

Where did you get the idea that anyone that doesn't share your beliefs, feel there is no meaning to being alive? Why can't someone have hope's dreams and desires while they are here, without believing in an afterlife? Sound's to me, that you are living for the afterlife to the point of forgetting this life.