As an atheist, what is your relationship with guilt and past misdeeds?

[Twilight Hue]

You simply learn through the consequences of your actions and try to do better, or simply be wiser yet sadder if past actions affect you enough that warrant any changes.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

And as an atheist I do.

Duly noted....but then again I wasn't speaking for all Atheist...

What does you not having any guilt have to do with you being an atheist?

I don't remember saying it did or didn't. I simply wasn't sure what he was talking about....and was waiting for him to clarify. I needed clarification on....("that you are fundamentally a good person, and so even the worst guilt is a kind of blessing in that respect.").....

 

[England my lionheart]

This is a subject that interests me, because religions all have ways of responding to misdeeds (sin, karma, forgiveness, etc). It seems to be quite universal among religions. Atheists, on the other hand, are unlikely to find much comfort in the majority of these ideas, so I'm curious as to how you (yes, you, as an individual) deal with guilt and how (if at all) you use past misdeeds to overcome the less desirable aspects of your nature.

Do you take a formal approach to it, or a philosophical one, for example, or simply a practical one?

Trial and error as i see it,you learn from the trials so you don't error again,well in theory at least .

 

[Bob L]

Maybe it's because I haven't been an atheist all that long, just a few months, but when I do or say something that hurts another person I do feel guilt, although it may be a vestige of my religious days. I ask forgiveness of that person, try to make amends, and move on. I don't feel guilt for an inanimate object though, I just try to learn from my mistake and go from there.

 

[GodlessAtheist]

Wejust learn from it, we refrain from making said mistake again. There is no praying for forgiveness, only recognition of the mistake. Atheists have it pretty bad, eh?

 

[Yerda]

Do you take a formal approach to it, or a philosophical one, for example, or simply a practical one?

What would be an example of a formal approach?

 

[LuisDantas]

This is a subject that interests me, because religions all have ways of responding to misdeeds (sin, karma, forgiveness, etc). It seems to be quite universal among religions. Atheists, on the other hand, are unlikely to find much comfort in the majority of these ideas, so I'm curious as to how you (yes, you, as an individual) deal with guilt and how (if at all) you use past misdeeds to overcome the less desirable aspects of your nature.

Do you take a formal approach to it, or a philosophical one, for example, or simply a practical one?

I don't think it makes much of a difference that I am an Atheist. If anything, that protects me from the nasty aspects of belief in sin (not a healthy concept IMO).

Generally speaking, I just attempt to avoid delusions of control and of previous knowledge. There is a sort of acceptance skill that develops fairly naturally, and with it an appreciation of the worth of cooperation and good will.

 

[jmn]

Oh, no. Really not. I think everyone (with a conscience) has felt guilt or regret at one point or another.

Guilt has nothing to do with atheism. Just being human, and yourself is all that's important here. We all have a conscience in some way, or at some level. Just deal with it in your own personal way.

 

[Alceste]

I try to do the right thing in the first place. Failing that, I do the best I can given the circumstances. If my best leaves me feeling I could have done better, I change. If I hurt someone, I apologize, although I'm not very good at it. I try to lighten the gravitas of the occasion with humour and it can come off sounding insincere.

I do feel guilty about letting people down sometimes - not being able to give them everything they want or need. I think that's a mental health issue, though. Anxiety related. People need so much, and want so much.

For that I take fish oil, 5HTP and St.John's wort. And booze. Mustn't forget about the booze.