Tolstoy's long season of despair was one the great trials of his life. Things became so dire that he stopped going hunting for fear he could not resist the urge to shoot himself while out in the woods.
The root cause of Tolstoy's anguish could be easily pinpointed – his predicament was brought on by his atheism. It could not have been otherwise, because despair is the inevitable destiny of every clear-thinking person who subscribes to this worldview.
If atheism is true life is devoid of meaning or purpose. We are here for a blip of time and then we die. All we do in our lives – all our efforts and aspirations – are completely meaningless. It does not even matter whether one is a good person or a bad person. Ultimately, it really makes no difference whether you are a Mother Theresa or an Adolf Hitler. They both died and ceased to exist and soon will also everyone whose lives they touched one way or another.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/higher-things/2012/feb/25/tolstoys-pain-why-ath/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_must-read-stories-today
