Whoa, these pictures are crazy / awesome / crazy-awesome. Where do you find them?

Anyway ... you wrote,

If I had no starting point I’d probably commit suicide or slide toward a lifetime of existential depression. I’m not that courageous. I can’t brave the woods of secular humanism alone. I can’t traverse the complex terrain of the human psyche without an anchor to keep from going insane.

This broke my heart. Hugs. I don't know what to say other than to remind you that there are lots of us who have admitted what it sounds like you already know, and we're not suffering from existential depression (at rates higher than in the general population, anyway), we're not committing suicide, we're not going insane. You don't have to brave these woods alone, either -- there's a great, vibrant, welcoming community (although we don't meet on Sunday mornings and sing songs together, except I guess for the UUs).

I think the natural world is awesome and exciting. Yes, it's humbling to realize we're floating through an enormous vacuum of space on this pale blue dot, and it's a bit scary to confront the idea that this life might be all we get. But it's also empowering, and it's beautiful.

I'd rather you be alive than dead, too, so do what you've gotta do. But you should know ... naturalism / rationalism isn't anywhere near as scary or depressing as you think it is.

And on your anchor,

I believe in a loving God who longs for reconciliation with mankind, more specifically, me.

I have a few questions. What do you mean by "reconciliation", and why does God want it? Is there a thought process you go through to get to the concept of your god in the first place, or do you begin with God sort of ex nihilo? Why one god, and not many, and not a giant turtle that carries the world on its back, or any of the zillions of other supernatural beings that people have believed in throughout the ages?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

Hey ... so maybe you deleted the comment I got an email notification of, but I still wanted to say that I'm sorry for coming across as at all condescending. I really didn't mean my mention of "displacing responsibility" to be a put-down -- just as a factual statement. Maybe I should have said "Having some authority figure looking out for you can be comforting." The idea that there's someone in charge, someone with a plan, someone who'll make sure everything turns out okay ... there's nothing wrong at all with wanting that to be true or finding it comforting. (It *is*!)

I just think that we get into problems for ourselves when we stop there. It was uncomfortable, but in the end I appreciated it when a friend pointed out to me that a relationship with a boyfriend was not all I imagined it to be (although it was nice to believe that we were perfect for each other). It would be hard to take, but I would want my family and my doctor to be honest with me if I was very likely to die soon of cancer or something, so I could spend my last days as wisely as possible, rather than pretend that my chances were better (although that would be a nicer reality to live in). This is the spirit in which my comment was intended.

Much love for you, Angie. I hope things do get better soon.

Everyone's different, but I've personally found housework and cleaning to be sometimes as good as antidepressants, and always at least an invaluable supplement to them. If my place is a mess, it's reflected in me. On the other hand, if I can get the strength to clean, I feel more refreshed and ready to take things on, and I can honestly say, "Hey look, I am capable of doing something good in the world." Simple tasks with visible outcomes really are a great start.

Hey, maybe you can clear up something I was wondering about yesterday. It has to do with the part you summed up as: And yet, just like every other human, Jesus despaired. Two thousand years ago, Jesus knelt in a garden and desperately wished for a way out of the wrath that was coming his way. And on this day, Good Friday, two thousand years ago, the Father said, “No.”

If Jesus and God the Father are part of the same trinity -- sharing some kind of "essence" but existing in separate entities, I'm not sure if I'm explaining this right but this is basically what I understood the trinity to mean -- then why would Jesus wish for a way out? Why would he say something like, "My god, why have you forsaken me?" Wouldn't he be in on the plan, know that it was the right way for things to happen ... know that it was the only way that things would happen, because he was in control of everything? I'm just confused about how Christians conceptualize this along with other points of Christian doctrine.

I had to Google for the Hercules song (and got a big thumbs-up from my labmate when she heard me playing it, hehe) ... my subconscious went for the Cake version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__PU5CVSegg

For what it's worth, most of the people I know who have never left the town (or even, the neighborhood) they grew up in didn't really "get anywhere" in a larger career and/or life-satisfaction sense. The people I know who seem successful and/or feel personally successful tend to have done at least some meaningful moving around (grew up in one place, went to college in another place, and/or worked in a few different places before settling down). You're on to something here, I think.

How to survive a long drive? I recommend energetic music, and a total lack of shame in singing along. :-P I know some guys who rely on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhbAY5S3Xl8 (the video has nothing to do with the song, just the first place I found it on YouTube...) for long trips up and down most of the east coast.

I think this is a problem for all aspects of life. It's particularly salient among atheist/skeptical activists, because passion about these causes is pretty closely related to being good at critical thinking and, related, being rather intelligent. (Perspicacity talks about education level. That's important, but I'm not inclined to pretend that opportunity to get an advanced degree is the key thing that matters here. Some people are more skilled at rationality than others, and that's okay to admit. Some people are better swimmers, and some people are better at playing the piano. Let's not kid ourselves -- some people are better at being smart.)

I've noticed a few extra-flippant atheist commenters around and about, but I don't think I would have diagnosed some sort of large-scale problem this way. Nevertheless, it's an issue I think about a fair amount. What if people just aren't smart enough to be reasonable (on whatever topic)? Is there a way we can structure things so that people's unreasonableness does the least possible damage? How far should our standards be lowered, to be realistic but not pessimistic?
My recent post Learning to be an evangelist

Huh, the trailer doesn't really betray the atheism at all. Totally saw the bird thing coming at the very start of that scene... hehe. It looks pretty funny (though not the kind of thing I'll be able to convince my husband to see in a theater with me ... probably will have to wait until I can rent it). Definitely adding it to my list.

Wow, you should be really proud of this post, Angie. I'm proud of you for writing it.

*hugs*

Hooray! Welcome back.

I suppose I'm one of those people who sometimes says that atheism is an insufficient reason around which to unite people -- though I usually mean it in the sense of my personal interest in attending a club or other social meeting devoted to atheism. Obviously there are some successful student groups and other organizations for atheists to get together, so there must be some way to set it up in an interesting way. I'm just still hung up on the idea of getting together to talk about one belief we all don't have. It doesn't mean we'll have anything else in common or that we'll even get along. (And I've heard similar complaints from gay friends about GLBT groups they joined. They don't have anything automatically in common with other gay people, any more than I automatically have something in common with other straight people.)

In a political sense, though, I think that there absolutely is something for atheists to unite around. I have yet to meet an atheist who is indifferent to religious freedom and church-state separation. And the GLBT community's actions that have led to this increasing acceptance are the political ones, the protests and demonstrations. I don't know if you can unite the majority of atheists around simple atheism as such, just to hang out and be atheist together, but I do think you can unite the majority of atheists around certain causes that atheists (nearly?) always agree are important.
My recent post Finding purpose as an atheist