Depressing, Isn't It?

I often hear atheists talk about the "depression" they felt when they realised there was no meaning to life.

In other words, having been Christians, the moment they stopped believing caused them a sense of loss. I must admit, having been brought up by a father who believes in the afterlife, I also suffered something of a crisis as I came to understand the truth: religion is a human invention.

Christians, and believers (and even atheists, probably) think this state of depression is a natural state of mind inherent in a Universe which, if without God is therefore without meaning.

They're wrong.

I brought my son up to understand there is no evidence for any god. And so, religion has never really concerned him. At his age I was suffering a crisis. The false promises of believers came crashing down, leaving gaping holes in the workings of my mind.

What's the difference? See, I didn't set him up with any expectations of an afterlife or of some good natured beardy guy to look after him, so he's not looking for one. He's perfectly happy with his non-religious existence. There's no hole for him to fill, because his parents didn't create one for him.

Well, he's young, you say. We don't know if he'll need to find something spiritual to fill a hole later in life.

OK, take another example. A friend who was brought up in communist East Germany. Again, he's perfectly happy without a god or an afterlife.

"I was never brought up with some kind of belief or religion unless we include Marxism into this. But even Marx’s ideas failed before my very eyes by the time I was 14 because our state was everything but what old Karl had in mind. So, no, I don’t yearn for a god to exist."

You won't be surprised if I say I think religion is brainwashing. But most people think the moment of brainwashing comes at the point you start to believe. It doesn't. People who turn to a religion have been set up at an early age to go looking for it. How many times do you hear "There was something missing from my life, so I turned to God"?

Religion is like heroin, and we're given a taste of it as soon as we can speak. It's pushed into our minds, ready to fuck us up when the bullshit fails to resist rational scrutiny. Ready to push us into "looking for something to fill a hole" like an addict desperate for a fix.

That's why people that wear their atheist badge with pride tend to be the former addicts who've put away the syringe. Like ex-smokers, they're the ones most likely to demand you stop your filthy habbit. They're the ones most likely to start a campaign.

They're not just fighting you, they're fighting against their need.