Without God, How Can an Atheist Feel Love?
If the Origin of Love is Divine in Nature, How Do Atheists Explain Their Ability to Feel Love?
I think that emotions are part of our biological, chemical, and psychological make-up. There is ample evidence that animals also possess emotions of similar sorts to our own. There is also ample evidence that hormonal and chemical changes to the body produce emotional effects even if the subject is unaware of them. In menopause, pregnancy and during the menstrual cycle fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone affect womens' emotions. A deficiency of testosterone can not only reduce a man's sex drive, it can make him depressed and lacking in motivation. Physical stimulation or damage to the brain produces and affects emotions. Closed head injuries can cause depression and irritability - they can also change personality and alter emotional attachments.
Mind altering drugs and natural neurotransmitters also affect and produce emotional responses. An overabundance of dopamine can make a person angry and agitated. A deficit of serotonin can make a person depressed. And a sudden spike of oxytocin combined with dopamine - can make a person fall in love.
If emotion is a function of a non-corporeal spirit, a soul, then why do physical and chemical things affect emotions so extremely much?
The brain is responsible for emotions. Its structure, its biological, electrical, and chemical make-up - are all responsible for creating emotions.
Love, specifically, appears to be a combination of emotion, desire, and addiction. When people in love are stuck in an MRI the parts of their brains that light up in response to photos of their loved ones are the same parts that light up in response to addictions and urges.
Love is a craving, a desire like hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. It's tied up with our dopamine response, our internal reward mechanism. Love is a state of craving another person, desiring their affection and presence, thinking about them almost obsessively. No one questions whether or not atheists get thirsty or hungry, so why do they question whether or not atheists can feel love?
Sources:
College courses in biochemistry and psychology.
Life experience.
Published by Kylyssa Shay
Kylyssa Shay spent 18 years as a professional floral designer and has aquacultured marine life for fun and profit. Ms. Shay is a freelance writer, an atheist and an avid life-long learner with unusual life e... View profile
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15 Comments
Post a Commenti'm a type 1 diabetic. as such i've always been (somewhat) in control of my own blood sugar levels. when my blood sugar levels are low (hypoglycemic), i am a different person. it always seemed obvious to me that the very concept of an immutable soul was ridiculous under such conditions. there's also the case of my sainted grandmother (a lifelong catholic) she suffered from alzheimer's. did she suddenly remember who her first born son (my father) was, upon entry to heaven, even though she had absolutely no idea who he was the day before she died?
If there be a singular creator s/he would have created the human brain and heart, and yeah emotions. Not having a belief in such a God/Goddess would not alter affect of human machine. I do not find religion to instill in humans the feeling of love, but the exact opposite.
Very good job! I think God is a concept, while love is biology and nuerons. We all feel it, even non-churchies!! Unless there is a biological problem that prevents us from feeling it...
Lovelovelove the last paragraph.
I'm a committed Christian so, of course I would have to disagree with your beliefs regarding God's existence, but I completely agree that love can be experienced equally by believers and non-believers. When the Bible speaks of us being created in God's image, I think it is talking about us having a spirit that will continue to exist beyond death, just as God exists outside of time & space. I think this separates us from God's other creations which will simply cease to exist when their bodies die (according to my beliefs of course). I find the intricacies of the human brain that you spoke about to be fascinating but again, I see them as part of the Creator's marvelous design. It was a very interesting article in spite of not agreeing on all points.
Great job, Kylyssa. I love it and agree wholeheartedly.
Human love has nothing to do with believing in skypixies.
Jack, the post is about human emotions not the emotions of supernatural beings. Atheists don't believe in supernatural beings so why would the emotions of supernatural beings be relevant to whether or not atheists can feel love?
Love is not just a chemical reaction, it is a verb, its what you do. God's love was more than just a " a combination of emotion, desire, and addiction" it was sacraficing of a loved One who Loved Us enough to die for. That is the truest expression of love.
Good explanation for the layperson to understand love has nothing to do with religion...