[pc in NM]

[ QUOTE ]
Atheism is not wrot with gloom and pessimism. Why do you feel this must be so?

I also feel people need hope, comfort, and a sense of belonging. I seek those things, just not in religion. I hope I will be able to contribute something good and meaningful to the world before I die, since after I die, well--that's pretty much it. That is my hope.

Atheism is not a lifestyle, it is a "belief" based on sound thinking and available information.

[/ QUOTE ]

And, I might add that a world "without god" is what we've bneen in anyway, but just hadn't thought clearly enough about before - the "world" is unchanged; only the explanations are different.

As an atheist, I believe that humanity is a species amonst species that has evolved on earth; that the species will become, as all do, extinct at some future point in time. As individuals, and as a species, our "existence" is contingent....

However, I also regard "hope" as a human emotion, and recommend that the proper way to view it is, as with any human emotions, within a human context - that is, within a human timeframe. I suspect that those who view "atheism" as "hopeless" are specifically thinking in terms of "eternity". And, I agree, atheism offers nothing in such terms or timeframes. However, there is a possibility for "hope" within one's own life, community, and historical context - whether hope is, or isn't justified within any of those contexts is subject to the same calculations and/or considerations for each of us, regardless of religious affiliation....