Letters to the Editor
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Unitarians Unite!...or something like that
There, that'll get your attention.
If you are having some kind of spiritual crisis, or somehow feel that maybe there is some kind of higher purpose in life, maybe you need to spread your wings out more and go to church...but not just any church, because it seems that you are definitely not interested in religions dealing with absolutes (which is so prevalent in our society today).
Go visit a Unitarian Universalist church. I always recommend it for wayward Christians looking for those familiar trappings of a church, but without all the negative baggage that made them leave their religion in the 1st. place, like the concept of "original sin," or gen-u-flecting, etc. UUs see life as a journey, where each individual's road to spiritual enlightenment is completely different. It's probably one of the few religions around that still uses that thing we call REASON when discussing faith. As an atheist, you are probably very familiar with reason...and you'll find many other UUs that think like you do as well.
I also tell you this because one of my closest UU friends was (and probably still is) an avowed atheist...and that's perfectly fine, because the the UU faith allows for a wider variety of interpretations on the meaning of life...rather than cramming a particular form of dogma down your throat, forcing you to have to make a massive leap in blind faith...a leap that you've basically been raised not to believe in, because it's not rational, or logical.
There, now that I've put that shameless plug in, there may be an even easy alternative for you to find some kind of meaning to your life. Dedicate your life to a worthy cause, one that makes a difference in other peoples' lives. I'm not just talking about giving money or volunteering for the local PBS pledge drive...I'm talking about pouring your heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, everything you've got into some kind of charity or cause. Because if atheists have one thing in common, it's a strong HUMANISTIC sense of right and wrong. You can't imagine how rewarding it can be to help others, and people younger than you will remember what you did...and their memory of you is the most tangible path to immortality I know, short of having some statue dedicated in your name after you die.
So...if that's what you are after, then think about these 2 options above. There are no absolutes in life, so don't think you have to be that way as well in whatever spiritual path you take. Good luck my friend.
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I used to be just like you...
"If I could flip a switch in my brain that would instantly make myself believe that there's a loving god out there who will someday reunite me with my loved ones, I would do it..."
I was you once, and I can't tell you how many times I said that exact same thing... I was raised Catholic, and after some serious hardships, I gave up all belief in God--I was an atheist for about 10 years.
About 5 years ago, I had a series of life changing events that caused me to very slowly, change my mind. What I want you to know is that you don't need to worry about this. If you are open to believing--and it sounds like you are--God will make His presence known to you. It might occur over years (as it did with me) or it might happen quickly, but I really do think that now that you are open to the possibility, you will start to experience events that will prove to you God's existence. They may be more subtle than what you might expect (I always hoped that a big booming voice would come out of the sky...), but keep your eyes and your heart open and you'll find what you're looking for. I wish you the best.
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A choice to be made.
It's not clear to me whether your current is a result of getting older and seeing yourself approach the second half of your life or feeling alienated from the theists around you.
The first case is a classic mid-life crisis that many if not most people go through. Looking back on your life to date, has it been fulfilling? You can't do anything about the past, but the future is in your control. In my experience, happiness only comes from two sources. First, develop and maintain close relationships with others, both within your family and outside of it. Second, pursue something greater than yourself. Go find a problem with the world and fix it.
The second case is much less common. It is very lonely being an atheist in a society that is so overtly religious as ours is these days. But there are plenty of atheist out there. There are a myriad of web sites that cater to atheists, humanists, and freethinkers of all types. Spend a Saturday afternoon browsing around the web and you'll find a few sites you can join and participate in the conversation with. If you live in a reasonably large town there is probably an atheist club nearby. You can find one at American Atheists. If there isn't a club near you maybe you can start one.
I've found that most people's belief isn't derived from a rational thought process but stems from an emotional need that the belief fills. Like a drug, however, religion doesn't solve the problem, it just the person feel better for awhile. You seem to have an unfulfilled need. You can choose to fill it with religion, but as a life long atheist I suspect you will find religion a difficult pill to swallow, like a lie you tell to yourself.
Best of luck.
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the point is pointlessness
I agree with one of the early letter writers, people are missing the point of this letter due to a misleading title. Given there's no god and the universe will either expand until every particle is too far away from every other one to affect it, or collapse back into another big bang from which no information of this universe can come out, why get up in the morning?
One of my atheist philosopher friends said that being an atheist is great because you can make up your own meaning. I think he does. I keep looking for a provided one (having grown up religious) even though I know it is arbitrary, like improving the probability that at least for the next few millenia life on earth stays healthy diverse and the quantity of human knowledge, the probability people will be decent to each other, things like that. But if the intellectual stuff runs out on you, you can go back to your biological programming and start having (or adopting) children. Evolution has programmed us to make them ultimate causes of our behaviour. Personally, I find even having graduate students helps.
On the tangential note Older & Wiser brought up about atheists being smart and good but having no chance to run for president, take heart. Atheism is the fastest-growing belief system in the US according to the US census. A summary can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
see the table on "religious identification". All the more reason to work on th real point here, which is defining meaning without recourse to the supernatural.