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Originally Posted by phidelis07  If we assume the position of the atheist then there is no god and what we do here is inconsequential. It will all be for not. Some atheist say that their existence meaningful because its meaningful to them, and the live life to its fullest. That's all fine and dandy because its a good way to live, but in the grand scheme of things their life will be inconsequential and all meaning derived in their life will dye with them. This point is so much clearer if we are to believe the physicist in their theories of the universe collapsing in on itself only to form a new universe. Once that happens everything achieved in this universe will cease to exist. If this is bound to occur and the universe will collapse on itself then form a new universe and do such for an eternity, is it all not meaningless ? Is the starving of the kids in africa, is the daily grind,pain ,hurt is it all pointless ? Is there no meaning in kindness and love ? One could say it has meaning in the here and now, but what then of the here and now ? It has no value.... |
Excellent thoughts, and for me where I began my journey to agnosticism. I was raised protestant but without a lot of emphasis on religion in our daily lives. I was told about God and how to be good, and we went to church occasionally. Throughout grade school and Jr. High I came to realize that religion and Gods were simply creations of the human mind to help deal with the realities of life. By the time I was 16 realized that the only intelligent view of religion and a God is to say that I have no hard evidence to support that belief, and knowing how frail and error prone the human mind can be the creation of religions by humans seemed to be a normal process. I majored in psychology in college in hopes of learning about the deeper meaning of life, but was quickly dissilusioned as all the professors wanted to do was regurgitate what had already been said on the topic. Over the next few years I read every book I could find on religion, science, belief, etc. and finally came to a place of peace and acceptance on the subject. That being the I have no idea if there is a God or not, or what form he/she would take. That I can not live my life hoping that there is a God, or acting like there may be. This was hard to accept for many of the reasons that you have outlined. I can't tell you how many times I asked myself "what is the point", "what is the meaning of my life", etc. I have come to realize that it simply that your life has whatever meaning you give it. I too went through the process of being distraught over the ultimate futility of it all, until I realized that the point is not that I (or the human race) go on forever, but what we do while we are here...mostly because that is all that I can do. Once I knew and embraced that, a certain freedom came over me. A freedom to wake up each day and live my life as I see fit, and as if it were the last day of my life. Almost like permission to slow down and see the beauty and mystery in everything around me. I still ponder what may be, but first and formost I live the best life I can, and relish every moment of my time here.