Joy is given by God to those filled with the Spirit. You may feel happiness, which is different. But, no, atheists cannot experience joy in its true definition.
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Emotional peaks organised by religious belief
Christians: Joy.
Atheists: Happiness.
Buddhists: Bliss.
Muslims: Ecstasy.
Seikhs: Merriment.*
Wiccans: Glee.
Satanists: Delight.**
Agnostics: Contentment.
* Seikhs can qualify for a short-term promotion to overall gaiety if they desire, but the paperwork involved means that few ever take advantage of the offer.
** Some scholars are now suggesting that Satanists are capable of going beyond mere delight and experiencing jocularity. Studies carried out to date have been controversial however.
Joy - the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
- the expression or exhibition of such emotion
- a state of happiness or felicity
- a source or cause of delight
Yet the dictionary doesn't mention your god.....
funny thing that.
According to wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn , "joy" is "the emotion of great happiness" so if you mean to say that everyone can be happy, who are you to with-hold the degree to which it is possible?
I'm agnostic. Can I experience half of "joy in its true definition?" Or can I still go all the way?
Edit:
Oops, sorry Septic Skeptic . Didn't see your post. Contentment is good!
Atheists cannot experience "joy" when "joy" is directly caused by something non-existent? Truer words were never spoken (though, you should clarify this by saying that NO-ONE can experience "joy" by your definition, because "joy" by your definition doesn't exist!).
@ Septic Sceptic:
You're a fount of win.
Septic Septic:
What about the Jews?
Joy is given by God to those filled with the Spirit.
- Does Joy feel happy about this? As to the spirit, it brings joy into my life too from time to time - Vodka, Whiskey, Armagnac, Cognac etc.
You may feel happiness, which is different.
I'd rather feel Joy, if you don't mind.
But, no, atheists cannot experience joy in its true definition.
- Oh I woulnd't dismiss Joy out of hand.
Well, I disagree. If God exists, He can fill anyone with the Spirit, wheter they believe in him or not.
He is omnipotent, after all.
(from dictionary.com)
joy: Pronunciation[joi]
noun
1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.
Don't you just love dictionaries?
By joy you mean having a vacuous zombie stare and that exaggerated "look at me, I'm not going to hell!" smile.
No, atheists don't have that sort of "joy".
@anatiedaephobic: Absolutely...
A lot of the posts on here seem to be from a christian ego-centrist stand point. It's unbelievable how arrogant they are when the Bible does say to be otherwise.
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2
I suppose all of us heathens can't experience true peace or contentment, either? I know I feel perfectly at peace in my mate's arms, joy that I can be with him, content to simply *be* in that moment. Does this twit *dare* call that false?
Theresa's right, atheists can't feel joy. Nor can blacks, Jews, gays, foreigners, anyone you choose to dehumanize in order to make your own tribe feel superior and satisfy your biologically hardwired need for an enemy. Anyone you choose to define as your 'them' in order to provide a contrast by which you can define your 'us', anything goes for those people. They also think about nothing but sex, they think about killing people and rebelling against all authority. They're not as human as us, they're not as alive as us. They're nothing but wicked animals and we need to get rid of them so we can be alone with our kind who never think about sex or killing people or rebelling against authority.
please continue to fool yourself that your realtionship with god makes you special, if it makes you happy and not interfering in anybody else's life, but allow that others may be able to experience the same emotions as you without a god
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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