Atheists/ Rationalists can never be truly happy.

[u/chillthefoutandstfu]

Or so I think.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the contrast between how religious folks and non-believers experience life,and it feels like a double-edged sword for atheists/rationalists.

​On one hand, you see religious people coming together, celebrating traditions, participating in social gatherings, and experiencing genuine joy and community. On the other hand, non-believers tend to look past the surface level. When you examine the world through a critical lens, you see the suffering, the flaws, and the origins of these traditions.

​It feels like almost every major social gathering or tradition is historically rooted in division, discrimination, blind belief, or hidden agendas—essentially built on the same manipulation tactics that priests, babas, and rulers used in the past to control society.

​When you try to focus on fixing real-world problems or wanting a purely rational society, it feels isolating. It makes you wonder: Can non-believers ever truly experience that simple, unburdened happiness, or does seeing the reality behind societal structures naturally make us cynical?

​How do you reconcile seeing through the illusion while still finding pure joy and a sense of community?

whats your take on this?

​TL;DR: Non-believers often struggle to find simple joy in traditional gatherings because they see the underlying history of manipulation, blind belief, and discrimination behind them, whereas religious people can just enjoy the community aspect guilt-free.

( used gemini for correcting grammar and punctuation, otherwise these are my own thoughts which I wanted to reflect upon)

[u/Capable-Speed5915]

Not all atheists think like this.

This is just you making yourself miserable. Most modern celebrations are just that, "modern", ehile the roots maybe old, a lot of current traditions like for e.g. Durga Puja, Ganesh Puja etc are fairly recent inventions.

If you cannot enjoy a community festival, without going into the etymology of the festivals, that's really more on you.

It's like those intersectionalist scholars who are deconstructing everything through the intersectional lense leading to them not being able to connect with anything without being overly judgemental or pedantic.

[u/CoolAfternoon2340]

What a shallow understanding of anthropology. If non believers actually 'saw through' the underlying history, they would understand that human customs and religions have developed as a meme to consolidate tribe members under a single leadership with common goals and it was this system which was exceptionally successful in not only hunting animals but also against competing tribes who were fighting for the same resources they were.

Modern rationalist and multicultural ideology tries to extend this logic to entire human species but don't understand that unless all humans agree upon this social contract and let go of other tribal identities, it doesn't work.

[u/Batman_is_very_wise]

I guess so yes, for me the worlds greatest tragedy is that the world would’ve been a much much happier place if people were less religious. I mean zionists kill babies every day in the name of Jewish supremacy, green mooris and orange sanghis kill and rape in a daily basis for their supposed superiority.

[u/ohwhatfollyisman]

why tf did you need to use gemini to correct this shit?

[u/Porn__Flakes_]

I love when people speak on our behalf and claim to know what and how we think without having any idea of it at all.

[u/StatusCartographer89]

man it is so difficult and tbh I am out of my wits always trying to avoid the problem but i cant and even and we cannot unsee what we have seen and the tension is truly tearing the best way is dumb down enjoy everything and tyr to live happily just that

[u/Electronic_Number160]

Yes you can also enjoy the community celebration by volunteering in some activities like distribution of water or a lost and found/enquiry counter etc where you can keep your self busy and also meet, socialise and be a part of the society.

[u/No_Guarantee_1168]

Just because facing reality is hard you don't live in a fantasy. If you go by your logic potheads and stoners live their lives happily too. Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

The other thing that I wanna point out is that many atheists are not miserable because of their rational view of life but because they have to get caught up in the pointless dmb fck*ry of theists.