Added Benefits

I have heard lots of Christians talk about the benefits of being a Christian and how Christianity has made their lives better. (And I'm sure people of other religions do the same, but in America, I really primarily hear Christians talking about it, and as a former Christian myself, I'm comparing my experience then and now.) However, I see benefits to not being religious at all. And today, the benefit that interests me is the category of sin.

Now, Christians like to accuse atheists of not believing because we just wanna sin. I want to say categorically that wanting to sin was not what led me to be stop believing in Bible God. I simply realized I had no reason to believe in any god. That's all. What I found out later is that I had to start reassessing my beliefs, and one of the areas I had to deal with was sin, a concept I chucked out as meaningless without a deity.

When I think of sin, I mean things that upset a deity in some way - make him angry or sad. There is no practical, physical reason that sins are wrong. Some people long ago decided it made their god angry or upset, and they wrote it down.

I want to stress that this doesn't mean I don't have morals or engage in moral behavior, but what I have decided is moral has shifted. I am concerned more with real harm and benefit to people, other animals and our environment than with what some supposed supernatural entity thinks.

I'm going to dwell on things that no longer haunt me as wrong instead of actions that harm. For clarity though, murder, assault, theft and many other actions are morally wrong.

As an atheist, though, I don't worry if a deity would be upset by my choice of literature, film, art, music, theater and other entertainments. There may be supernatural content or swear words or people doing horrible things. I don't concern myself with whether that meshes with what I think my god wants. It also means I weigh the messages contained in these works. I recognize when something is fantasy, but I also gauge whether actions are moral or immoral. Just because a character makes horrific choices doesn't oblige me to accept them as good. I can watch horror films or romantic comedies or science fiction without guilt or hesitation. It isn't the content that is problematic.

I don't worry if my life serves a "higher purpose." I strive to do good actions and I try to contribute to others' well-being, in part because such things improve my life. Others are more positively inclinded to me and there is more peace and happiness in general. I do all the things we are supposed to do as adults: pay bills, take care of my stuff, work and earn money. But I don't fret over whether I'm on the god-approved path. I see a lot of that out there, and it seems to breed more stress than joy.

I don't worry about whether a sex act makes the baby Jesus cry. My main concern with sex is that it stems from informed consent of people who don't have power differentials. But two adults who know what they're doing, I don't see the harm. I actually don't see the harm for teenagers who are similarly aged (again, no power differentials where one may be using their position to coerce). At issue with teenagers is information: that if they are going to engage, and certainly they shouldn't feel they have to, they should use protection and understand what they are doing (the informed part in informed consent). To that end, there should be good sex education, that doesn't make sex seem required, like a rite of passage, but normal, and that presents teens with information.

I don't worry about my own acts (does god approve of this position?) and I just don't concern myself with people who are not me and what they do in their bedrooms. I don't worry if they have kinks or enjoy BDSM. All of the evidence has shown that LGBT is normal and part of the human species.

Without a deity, morality starts to feel better and parts of life more enjoyable.