Hi, hello, how are ya?
Offline I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say 'hi' 
A little bit about me: I'm a writer and a musician, and--consequently--poor. I'm bipolar, and not too shy about it. I'm gay, and not too shy about that, either. I'm from the Big City, but was transplanted to a Small Town five years ago. (I'm still getting used to the lack of sky-scrapers and the superfluity of mediocre sushi.) I was raised Episcopalian, and to be a wide-eyed superstitionist; but thankfully I lost my religion about three years ago. Here's hoping no one finds it and gives it back.
I no longer believe in luck, and it's a good thing I don't, since mine is mostly bad, anyway. I'm an existentialist nihilist, which for me means that I'm always asking: what's the point of being here or anywhere, since nothing objectively matters?
Ah, but even in the midst of roller-coaster ups and downs, my life's a beach. Now, if only I knew how to swim. . . .
“I'm not an atheist. How can you not believe in something that doesn't exist? That's way too convoluted for me.”--A Whitney Brown
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From a city to a small town?! It's a good thing, then. Cities are so ugly.
Well if your life is a beach and you don't know how to swim, mine's a bitch and I'm still virgin.
In the hope that you do not overcome your istinct for survival, you can always do what matters to you, and if what matters to you are other people, then you can help them. There's always a need of that. So you can have a aim. And if this is not sufficient, then you can again support life so that one day we could find the 'point' of being here. Which by the way evolution has shown.
The point of being here or anywhere else is to stave off the ennui of boredom.
Welcome to the <sometimes> rational forum.
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
Welcome and jump right into some conversations.
You sound like a nihilist too, now. If you're on the internets and are bored, then you're not doing it right. Since I understood you're studying programming, I pass some of my knowledge to you: http://thedailywtf.com. Have fun. Oh, and NEVER forget the engineer's webcomic: xkcd.com.
The rational forum? Quite right. There's a know ratio of theists/atheists here?
welcome
I was thinking some of the atheist-atheist discussions could use some rationality.
I'm depressed at the moment. Ennui is a constant companion. Working on it, but it takes time.
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
i struggle with that too. chuang tzu helps. so does the hagakure.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
What is the point of all this? YOU make your own purpose. You don't have to be fatalistic about the ride ending, or fatalistic about the grand scope of the universe just being an object we live in.
Why do you watch a movie since you know it is going to end. Why do people go to sporting events or concerts, those end too.
Certainly bad shit happens. I am poor too. But for all the "bad" that happens, I find purpose in helping my mother, loving her, loving my co-workers, and the atheist community online.
There are no guarantees in life. I could get hit by a car tomorrow. I could get a bacteria infection. Or since I smoke, I could end up with lung cancer. So, that does not mean that I cant find something to enjoy while I am here.
I think some of what you say here has a lot to do with your past and your prior belief lingering around subconsciously.
You were taught by society that only God could provide humans with dignity. This takes away the self and devalues the person. And on top of that you were also constantly told by far too many that being gay was bad.
So after being told for so long that believing is the only way to "find something" worth living for, now that you accept that this is all there is, you still havent given yourself a 3rd option.
Yes, this is all there is, so what? Being poor is not a crime, and being gay is not a crime. And your self worth is what you make it, not what other people tell you should be or do. Once you start being yourself and care less about what others think of you, and stop messuring yourself against others, you will be much happier.
I grew up trying to be what other people wanted. I tried so hard growing up to please other people. You cant please everyone, and you should not set yourself up for disappointment by thinking life is a script. It is not.
Just be yourself, that is all you can be.
You want "purpose" in your life? There are tons of gay communities on line. There are tons of atheist communities on line. And as far as music, there are far more musicians who remain poor, so you better be doing it for the love of music. Or, you could work on becoming a music teacher. Private music teachers can make good money, at least more comfortable than what you may be implying.
But don't get down on life simply because nature and the universe have no purpose. YOU make your own purpose and you can find happiness in some things IF you want.
I've had points in my life where I thought about calling it quits, but if I had, looking back at it now, there would have been so much I would have missed that I am glad now I stuck around to do.
Being an atheist now would not have happened if I had done it when I was a depressed teen and a believer, trying too hard to please everyone. I wouldn't have learned about all the brainy things I learned from others online, from great minds, like the ones who post here, and like Dawkins and Hitchens and I wouldn't have the knowledge I have now. And there is NO amount of money in the world that I would trade what is now in my head. If anything depresses me it is not having what is now in my head sooner when I was young.
Life can suck sometimes, but life sucking sometimes is part of life, but you don't have to dwell in it.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Well, I'm a bit depressed too, because when I log out they take away all my cookies