Question for an Atheist

[ant]

Can an atheist experience an existential crises?

[youkrst]

i'm not really a complete atheist, nor am i really a complete believer, i suppose i'm all things and yet not really any of them.

but having said that, speaking as an atheist, YES! atheists can indeed have an existential crisis, or even more than one crisis, crises.

reminds me of that supertramp album, crisis? what crisis?

but it seems obvious, for example, if an "atheist" thought that they would keep saving money for their retirement but then their spouse took off with the money and at the same time they were diagnosed with a terminal illness and told they might be dead in 3 to 6 months then an existential crisis might ensue. but surely the same is true of an ardent believer?

[ant]

thought that they would keep saving money for their retirement but then their spouse took off with the money and at the same time they were diagnosed with a terminal illness and told they might be dead in 3 to 6 months

So what would be the crisis for the atheist here?

I'd say that if his wife took the money and ran off with another man, then too bad for the atheist. His wife simply found a better "hunter/gatherer" and a better mate for superior babies than his weak sperm could manufacture.

The terminal illness would just be a bad hand he was dealt.

It's as simply as that for the diehard atheist, right? Any deeper meaning he would try to apply here would be just an illusion.

[Suzanne]

Both my parents are dead, however, although I do not believe in heaven or hell I oftentimes imagine my mother in heaven. I talk to her when I need her, although I don't believe she can hear me. It is a comfort to me thinking my mother is creating freindships with her favorite dead authors and actors, maybe even visiting with her mother. When my mother died I said to myself, "well, now she knows who killed Kenedy". I do not have this same feeling for my father or other loved ones I have lost, just mom.

I consider myself agnostic, I don't believe in heaven and I don't believe the dead can hear us speak or somehow protect us but for the one exception, my mom.

Does this create a crisis for me, yes it does. How can I have a seperate belief? A belief inheaven that applies only to my mother? I imagine my mother happy and pain free, she hears me speak and she watches over my family. Crisis, maybe, comfort most certainly.

[ant]

Very interesting reply, Suzanne.
Thanks for sharing that.

[Robert Tulip]

Can an atheist experience an existential crises?

A more usual question is whether a believer can experience an existential crisis.

The existential is a concept associated with physical existence. Believers assume that the physical is a lesser reality than the spiritual, and that God will save them.

The usual form of existential crisis for a believer is when they realise the beliefs they have built their life on are false, and they recognise there is no supernatural comforter, and experience a loss of faith.

The example given above of relationship and health breakdown is a normal sort of existential human crisis. Believers can cope with such crises by faith, escaping into a fantasy realm, whereas atheists tend to face a bleak and stark material evidentiary reality. Atheists are more honest in this sort of situation.

Existential philosophy was most clearly articulated by Martin Heidegger in his 1927 book Being and Time. He drew a contrast between the authentic, which experiences existence with what he calls 'anticipatory resoluteness', and the inauthentic, which avoids experience of existence through such stratagems as ambiguity and gossip.

[ant]

Atheists are more honest in this sort of situation.

Yes, I'd be more honest with myself if I admitted that the existence of something quite possibly beyond my limited comprehension is an impossibility.

Once again, Robert, you made me LAUGH MY ASS OFF.

[youkrst]

So what would be the crisis for the atheist here?

the crisis would be that the atheist had an expectation of a lovely old age enjoying the saved money with the woman he loves but now that expectation is shattered. she has absconded with the money. i didn't make mention of another man as i assumed in my example she was too clever for that, why share the booty with another klutz when she can now afford the very best gigolo in town. furthermore his expectation of an enjoyable retirement is further shattered by the news of his impending death.

so in short just as a believer would suffer a crisis upon the news that sweet jesus has allowed his child to be beaten to death by merciless thugs an atheist suffers a crisis when his expectation of a prosperous retirement is trampled underfoot by a theiving spouse and a terminal illness.

neither believers nor atheists are immune from "twists of fate" that force them to reconsider their outlook. what we take for granted whether atheist, agnostic or believer is constantly subject to an insistent need of reappraisal when things suddenly appear way WAY different than we had assumed they were or were going to be.

to me there is an atheist in every believer and a believer in every atheist, just as every male has a feminine side and every female has a male side.

he makes the rain fall on the good and evil alike. (metaphor applied within.)

does the sun only shine on believers, the rain, does it only fall on atheists.

we are ALL in this together.

Robert, you, me, EVERYBODY...

everybody, needs somebody....

Everybody needs somebody
Everybody needs somebody to love, someone to love (Someone to love)
Sweetheart to miss (Sweetheart to miss)
Sugar to kiss (Sugar to kiss)
I need you, you, you (You, you, you)
I need you, you, you (You, you, you)
I need you, you, you (You, you, you) in the morning (I need) (You, you, you)
When my souls on fire (I need) (You, you, you)
Sometimes I feel, I feel a little sad inside
When my baby mistreats me, I never, never, never have a place to hide
I need you

Sometimes I feel, I feel a little sad inside
When my baby mistreats me, I never, never, never have a place to hide
I need you, you, you
I need you, you, you (I need you)
I need you, you, you (I need you)
I need you, you, you (I need you)
(I need you) I need you
You know people when you do find somebody
Hold that woman, hold that man
Love him, please him, squeeze her, please her, hold her
Squeeze and please that person, give 'em all your love
Signify your feelings with every gentle caress (Signify)
Because it's so important to have that special somebody
To hold (Hold), kiss (Kiss), miss (Miss), squeeze (Squeeze) and please (Please)
Everybody needs somebody (I need you)
Everybody needs somebody to love (Everybody), someone to love (Needs somebody)
Sweetheart to miss (Everybody)
Sugar to kiss (Needs somebody)
I need you, you, you (You, you, you)

I need you, you, you (Everybody)
I need you, you, you (Needs somebody)
I need you, you, you (Everybody)
I need you, you, you (Needs somebody)

In the morning (Everybody)
When my souls on fire (Needs somebody)
When I need that woman of mine (Everybody)
I need you, you, you, you (Needs somebody)
I need you, you, you, you (Everybody)
I need you, you, you (Needs somebody)
I need you

On the version that appeared on the 'Best of the Blues Brothers' album, Elwood starts with another intro:

We're so glad to see so many of you lovely people here tonight, and we would especially like to welcome all the representatives of the California Highway Patrol, who are waiting for me and Jake after the show. We sincerely hope that you all will enjoy the show, and please remember people, that no matter who you are, and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there are things that make all of us the same. You, me, my brother Jake, Wilson Picket, Solomon Burke, everybody people, everybody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTJeT2i9QU

[geo]

I use the term "existential angst" to describe the knowledge that we're only alive for so long and the clock is ticking.

tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .

Thus, we struggle to find meaning in our lives, wondering what we should be doing, wondering if we're doing enough, wondering if it really matters.

I'm convinced both atheists and theists live this struggle although, as Robert says, atheists may be more inclined to reflect on it.

[youkrst]

right on geo!

as mutemath put it

"we all break the same"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfyChdikLo4