Happiness as an Atheist

I have already discussed happiness on this blog, but recently I've come across several posts on the topic, informing the reader that there is a higher form of happiness related to being a theist. As an example, someone who goes by the name Father Pablo on Patheos has a blog entry entitled "Seeking Christ" that argues we are like a jigsaw puzzle that is missing a piece. Guess what shape it is....

Apparently we tirelessly seek out a way to fill that empty spot "correctly," and we may do this through "materialism and vanity, drugs and alcohol, hedonism and egotism to name a few." These might be successful "temporarily" but in the long run, "these vices rapidly deepen the void within us."

Father Pablo does not expand on what he means by these "vices," and I haven't read that much of him to know if he goes into detail elsewhere, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that he is referring to a number of culture war kind of topics. Materialism likely means things like enjoying clothes, jewelry, gadgets, a nice car and so on. Vanity is taking excessive pleasure in our appearance and posting selfies on Twitter and Instagram. I can't imagine he things people indulge responsibly in drugs and alcohol. He probably imagines people get completely blitzed any time they use anything that they. Really in this context hedonism and egotism are a little redundant, but I imagine we are talking about a life with excessive emphasis on physical pleasures (i.e. sex, food, drink) and thinking only of the self.

One issue I have with such thinking is that it presents individuals as being monolithic. They can only ever be one thing. We have snapped a chalkline in life and said on one line is "real" happiness and on the other is "temporary, fake" happiness. When we "find god" we will never want to drink or smoke a joint. We will never take pleasure in buying a new computer or a cool jacket. We will cease thinking of ourselves. Or something like that. I would just like to point out that this idea is patently false. I know lots of Christians who still enjoy all kinds of material pleasures and do drugs and drink and have sex outside of marriage and so on.

Or maybe Father Pablo just means that if we don't have god in our lives, we won't understand these physical pleasures in the proper way. We will replace god with the material pleasures, but when we accept Jesus these pleasures will be reduced.

Either way, it totally ignores the way atheists lead their lives on the plain of reality where I try to live.

I don't know anyone who lead an actual life of total hedonism or who is totally materialistic. I know people who are vain and egotistical, but not 100%. They do think of others sometimes. And I know plenty of people who use drugs and alcohol in a responsible way, i.e. they don't always or ever overdo it; they don't drive when they've had too much; they don't let it interfere with their duties.

Part of the issue is that Christianity in particular likes to paint pleasure as somehow wrong. I grew up thinking I was supposed to sacrifice and focus on religion. During the period of Lent, I gave up something I liked (like chocolate or Coke) in order to be more Christ-like. Sex has a "proper use" which is procreation. Some Christian denominations frown on drinking and dancing.

Atheists of course don't have to worry about pleasing some deity, deciphering a text or events to figure out what is wanted or even demanded. There is no atheist authority to tell us how to be happy either. What this means is you should ask an atheist about happiness and not assume you know the answer, not assume that something is missing in their life.

Without god, this doesn't mean anything goes or that hedonism is the natural place to end up. There are some realities that most of us would come up against if we tried to live for complete pleasure: money and our health. Most of us are not wealthy and we do need to eat right, sleep and treat ourselves properly to maintain our bodies. To get more pleasure, our body needs to be in a state to get that pleasure.

So, those of us who can build a life that is meaningful. We find careers that allow us to use our talents in the service of something (or maybe some people just have a job that pays them and they use their talents in a hobby). Outside of work, we build families and a network of friends with whom we interact and share activities. Within those structures, we give money to charities and/or donate our time to charity work. Some of our hobbies may mean making things we share with friends.

For many of us, a career is a life project. We have near-, mid- and long-term goals. Our career might be one that means we help others (like healthcare, education, or non-profit) so we see the impact of our actions. The same is true of families.

On a day to day level, we enjoy little pleasures: a nice meal, a party, a movie or tv show, a book, a game. I have heard Christians say that physical pleasure is not enough because it is fleeting. It ends. Without it ending, it wouldn't be a pleasure. It would just be what is. The fact is, yes, this meal will end, but tomorrow I will have another. Yes, this film will end. But after this, I will talk about it with friends or think about it, and then there will be other films to enjoy. The fact that something ends does not lessen the pleasure of it.

I often wonder if Christians think that physical pleasures are better when you believe in god. I think on some of the things that make me happy: swimming in the ocean (well, bobbing in the waves or body-surfing), lazing in the bed a little longer in the morning when I don't have anywhere to be, walking bare-foot in sand, hiking in the mountains, traveling to new places... are these better because they have the stamp of approval of some deity?

Based on some of the passages in Father Pablo's entry, I think something different is at work. He talks about finding peace and not searching any more. I think he actually just feels relieved that he has an answer to questions that bothered him before.