You don’t need God for comfort: 7 places atheists can turn to in times of need

[ErikJ]

Last edited Thu Nov 19, 2015, 10:04 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm an agnostic but I found this interesting.

You don’t need God for comfort: 7 places atheists can turn to in times of need
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Here are just seven atheist support systems — or eight, depending on how you’re counting — that you might not have heard of, focusing on particular issues or demographics that you might not have known existed. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and more are being created all the time. And most of these organizations know about most of the others, and can point you in their direction. If you’re an atheist, I encourage you to bookmark this page: you never know when you or one of your atheist friends might need one of these services. And if you’re not an atheist, but you have atheist friends or colleagues or family, you’d be doing them a kindness to let them know that these support systems exist. Your atheist friends and colleagues and family members may have needs that you aren’t aware of, needs they’ve never said anything about… because it never occurred to them that these forms of help could even exist.

1a and 1b: Recovering From Religion and the Apostasy Project. One of the first pieces of support that atheists often need, and one of the most important, is support when they’re becoming an atheist in the first place. And one of the second pieces of support that atheists often need, and also one of the most important, is support when they decide to come out..................

2: The Secular Therapist Project. So why on Earth would an atheist care whether their therapist was an atheist? Well, for starters: Atheists are commonlysubjected to religious proselytizing by their therapists.............................

3: Secular Organizations for Sobriety. And just like it’s often hard to find therapy that doesn’t include religion, it can be very hard to find sobriety support that doesn’t include religion. The primary network of sobriety support, Alcoholics Anonymous, explicitly relies on the concept of a higher power ....................................

4: Grief Beyond Belief. If there were ever a time when atheists needed special support, it’s grief. The need for some sort of support during a time of grief is one of the most fundamental human needs we have. But death and grief are subjects on which non-believers typically think — and feel — very differently from believers. And spiritual beliefs typically permeate grief support, both in formal organized grief-support structures and informally from family and friends… so much so that it can be invisible to believers, who often perpetuate it without even thinking......................

5. Humanist Celebrants. Not all human needs for support are about the need for help in hard times, such as grief or addiction or mental health problems. Sometimes, people need help with just… life. The need for rites of passage, rituals to mark the major changes in our lives, seems to be deeply ingrained in us. Rituals to mark birth, coming of age, marriage, death… these exist in every human culture. (At least, every human culture I’m aware of. Anthropologists, correct me if I’m wrong here!)

6: Parenting Beyond Belief. There’s a funny thing about being an atheist parent. Actually, there are a lot of funny things about being an atheist parent. But there’s one particular thing that lots of atheist parents report: Even if the people around them more or less accept their lack of religion, they’re often baffled and disturbed at the idea of raising children without it..............

7: The Clergy Project. If you’ve heard of any of these support networks, you’ve probably heard of this one. It’s been all over the news. And with good reason: It’s a heck of a story. The Clergy Project exists for one reason: to support clergy members who don’t believe in God or the supernatural............................

http://www.salon.com/2015/11/19/you_dont_need_god_for_comfort_7_places_atheists_can_turn_to_in_times_of_need/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

[cleanhippie]

1. One doesn't need a god for anything.

Anything a god can give, we can give ourselves.

[Promethean]

2. And do it better

by tossing all the insane dogmatic baggage.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. I'm looking for seven ways to get gifts without Santa.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. I feel bad sometimes.

I can't always empathize with, and help atheists that feel loss or sadness or confusion as a result of becoming an atheist; dealing with the aftereffects of religious indoctrination.

I can comfort people in times of loss, or sadness, or grief, but on the absence of religion... If they lack some community bond, or the ritualistic nuances of it, or whatever... I find myself unable to effectively help them.

If anyone ever wonders why I seem angry towards religions sometimes, this is a large part of it. I view religion as damaging to people; particularly to those that leave religion, and that makes me mad. There is enough damn suffering in the world, without these self-inflicted (as a large part of the species, not leveling that blame at the individual, the individual embedded in a society inculcated in it can hardly be blamed for going with the flow) lies.

[ErikJ]

5. What about the millions whose last hope is their strong belief in

Last edited Mon Nov 23, 2015, 04:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Jesus. I know a girl like that. 35 yrs old, heroin, meth, alcohol, ex-felon. She lost her 2 kids and is sick about it and is now keeping it all together and straight becuz of her faith in Jesus. She goes to NA and an evan church every Sunday. She doesnt have a very deep social network, except a transgender "girl" and a fellow ex-con girlfriend and me. She's now working and doing very well on the straight and narrow. But I now fear if she loses hope of custody her world will collapse.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I don't seek placebos.

People using them are only as effective as their confidence in the placebo. 'Jesus' lets her down one time, and all that can blow away like sand. Not a material support mechanism.

Sounds like her love for her children is material. (If I understood your last custody comment.)

[NastyRiffraff]

7. I have nothing but sympathy

for people like this girl. If she gets support from belief in Jesus, Santa Claus, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, that's fine. It's just that her belief, or anyone else's, doesn't make it true.

Millions of children have found comfort after pain and bleeding from the Tooth Fairy. No one begrudges a child that, but again, the Tooth Fairy isn't real, as those of us who have grown up now know.

[cleanhippie]

8. If ones last hope is that a supernatural deity will save them...

...then all hope is already lost.