Atheists: What are your answers to these questions (im curious)?

Question

If you are an atheist, a materialist, a pantheist, or a naturalist, try to answer the following 11 questions:

"If all of life is meaningless, and ultimately absurd , why bother to march straight forward, why stand in the queue as though life as a whole makes sense?" ---Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There

If everyone completely passes out of existence when they die, what ultimate meaning has life? Even if a man's life is important because of his influence on others or by his effect on the course of history, of what ultimate significance is that if there is no immortality and all other lives, events, and even history itself is ultimately meaningless?

Suppose the universe had never existed. Apart form God, what ultimate difference would that make?

In a universe without God or immortality, how is mankind ultimately different from a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs?

What viable basis exists for justice or law if man is nothing but a sophisticated, programmed machine?

Why does research, discovery, diplomacy, art, music, sacrifice, compassion, feelings of love, or affectionate and caring relationships mean anything if it all ultimately comes to naught anyway?

Without absolute morals, what ultimate difference is there between Saddam Hussein and Billy Graham?

If there is no immortality, why shouldn't all things be permitted?(Dostoyevsky)

If morality is only a relative social construct, on what basis could or should anyone ever move to interfere with cultures that practice apartheid, female circumcision, cannibalism, or ethnic cleansing?

If there is no God, on what basis is there any meaning or hope for fairness, comfort, or better times?

Without a personal Creator-God, how are you anything other than the coincidental, purposeless miscarriage of nature, spinning round and round on a lonely planet in the blackness of space for just a little while before you and all memory of your futile, pointless, meaningless life finally blinks out forever in the endless darkness?

Answer 1

Let me turn your questions around to you -

1. Why do you need a father figure to give your life meaning and purpose and direction?

2. Why do you need the promise of a reward and the threat of a punishment to force you to do good and avoid wrong?

A

Answer 2

1) Who says life is meaningless? My life is very meaningful, very purpose driven. My family, friends, work, my contributions to my community, and dozens of other things give me meaning. Why do assume there is no meaning without some god?
2) Isn't the significance in ours lives what we pass on to our offspring and others? What can you pass on to others when you are dead and gone. Life is now.
3) The difference is you. Why demean yourself? Why do you think so little of yourself?
4) How are we different from a swarm of mosquitos or a barnyard full of pigs? Our level of intelligence and self awareness.
5) The basis for law or justice is determined by society in general. If you look back over human history that basis has changed and will continue to change. At one time public executions and torture were common, women were killed for adultery, the accused were hung on the spot without trial, people were burned for being witches. The concept of law and what is just changes as the norms of society change.
6) All those things mean something because you are experiencing them now, while you're alive. What good would any of that do when you are dead and in heaven?
7) Absolute morals? No such a thing. Morals are a construct of society and like laws and justice have changed, and will change over time. Currently we see Hussein as evil and Graham as good. Would they have been viewed the same in 500 AD? Will they be viewed the same in 2150 AD?
8) The very nature of what we call civilization requires certain rules and laws of behavior in order for the civilization to prosper. I would think that if immortality was possible these rules would mean nothing and chaos would result.
9) All the things you mentioned (i.e. apartheid, cannibalism, etc.) were at one time or another considered OK by different societies. This only proves that morality is definitely a social construct that varies with the people involved.
10) There is always hope for fairness, comfort, and better times because you are here and alive now. Why is the only meaning in your life an artificial one that some religion creates for you?
11) There is no god so the fact that we may be one great cosmic coincidence should give you even more a sense of just how special life is on this planet. Just how much meaning and purpose there is to every life around you, every minute of the day, every year of your life. Why are christians so eager to die in order to get to their reward of a good life? They are missing out, they are out of tune, they are dark and dreary individuals looking forward to death.

Answer 3

1. This question starts from an incorrect premise. Atheists do not believe that life is meaningless; they decide for themselves what it means.

2. Just because you die in the end doesn't mean you never lived. I'm alive, right here, right now, so i might as well make the most of it.

3. None.

4. Well, we live longer than mosquitoes and pigs, for one. But more importantly, we have the ability to think about and comprehend our own existence, as well as the nature of the universe in which we exist.

5. Just because we're meat machines doesn't mean we don't want happiness or comfort; laws exist ultimately to provide a stable environment in which people can find happiness and comfort. Our feelings are still very real, because, regardless of our machine-like nature, we still experience those feelings.

6. See answer number 2.

7. Not much in my mind - they're both jerks. But yeah, i get your question. What difference is there? Well, Saddam was a ruthless dictator who killed thousands of people. Billy Graham is just a jerk. Clearly, there is a difference there, regardless of whether it is good or bad.

8. See answer number 2.

9. Ultimately, our survival will depend upon the cooperation of the entire planet. Nations do not exist in vacuums; we're all in this together.

10. God has nothing to do with any of those things; they exist with or without him.

11. I am nothing other than that. I absolutely am an insignificant speck of stuff on an insignificant ball of dirt circling an average (and insignificant) star in one of billions upon billions of galaxies in a vast and mostly empty universe.
But I am still Me. Even though the universe doesn't care about me, I still care about me. And that's more than enough.

Plus, what sort of dysfunctional personality needs the attention and approval of *ultimate cosmic powers* in order to feel good about himself? That's just absurd.

It's worth noting that the answers to these questions are irrelevent in terms of the existence of god. God's existence has nothing to do with how we feel or what we want; he exists or does not exist independently of us.

Answer 4

Yeah, what Alan said.

But let me add more thing:
"If all of life is meaningless, and ultimately absurd, ..."

This statement presupposes that life is meaningless without God, and then goes on to conclude that life is meaningless without God.
I believe the Bible is myth. I think the likelihood if any intelligent deity is very low. Yet I enjoy life immensely. And when I die, my daughter and her generation will carry on. I'm probably going to be disappointed that there are still lots of questions that are still unanswered, but I'll probably also be able to look back and appreciate all that I learned and that humanity learned during my lifetime, and I'll be envious and hopeful for the generations that follow, and what they will learn and do.

Answer 5

I'll answer your question... but I'm not sure what it has to do with morals. My parents are still very much Christian. I was raised under that faith. My parents don't like my decision. Which is alright, since I wasn't seeking their approval when I began to question Christianity in the first place. They have accepted that I've made the choice which is right for me. That's what parents do. I respect them and their religion, while they respect me and my lack of belief.

Answer 6

You must accept that our intellects are not far enough developed to know the answers to these questions.
You have merely to look at the state of the world around you to realise this, we are in a very low point if human progress.
There is absolutely no point in making up stories about gods and devils to provide explanations for our existence.
You have only to look at the condition of the Middle East where the major religions are knocking seven kinds of s h i t out of each other to see where this sort of self-deception leads.

Answer 7

Why is it exactly that life has to have some profound meaning? Human beings are essentially animals, no different to any others on earth. If applying this rule and understanding, life is therefore simply about a species maintaining its exsistence while playing its role in the ever evolving planets life cycle.

Answer 8

Here is proof that a god is not needed to give morality, order, meaning and desire to live: Other species, like lions, apes, dogs, and so on, have families, communities and lives without any religion or laws even. They have learned over millenia how to exist in a way that is most mutually beneficial to them.

Answer 9

This seems to really just be one question asked in different forms, so I will just provide one answer.

Life, the universe, and everything, is indeed meaningless. It's a shame reality has no obligation to pander to our fears and desires, don't you think?

Answer 10

These are mostly pseudo-profound questions that Christian authors use to sell books and get listeners (read, "donations"), but I will be happy to answer EVERY ONE of your questions (actually, I'm sure they're questions you've heard or read). For the record, I'm not an athiest. I'm an agnostic.

Although you may mean well, your question was incredibly biased and insincere, but I will give you my answers as honestly and sincerely as possible.

>> "If all of life is meaningless, and ultimately absurd , why bother to march straight forward, why stand in the queue as though life as a whole makes sense?"

That's a fluff question. Like "The Sounds of Silence." Sounds profound without really making any sense. Why march straight forward? Do you do that? Are you in the army? See how absurd that is?

>> If everyone completely passes out of existence when they die, what ultimate meaning has life? Even if a man's life is important because of his influence on others or by his effect on the course of history, of what ultimate significance is that if there is no immortality and all other lives, events, and even history itself is ultimately meaningless?

Does life have to have a special meaning, in the most profound sense? God watches the sparrow fall and die (and does nothing to help it, by the way, which I would if I could... wouldn't you?). Is that sparrow meaningless? If so, why does God care about it? It means something only in the context of the rest of the natural universe with which it interacts. As do we.

>> Suppose the universe had never existed. Apart form God, what ultimate difference would that make?

If the universe had never existed, what difference would that make, indeed? None at all. Is that supposed to mean something? Sounds of Silence! If the Universe never existed, we wouldn't even be talking about this and the Christian concept of God never would have evolved.

>> In a universe without God or immortality, how is mankind ultimately different from a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs?

Are we really that different from a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs? We are more intelligent than they are (most of us, anyway), but couldn't that just be another difference, like us not having wings or curly tails, them not walking upright or feeling hatred and bigotry? Why this homeocentric insistence on humans being all that different from animals? Genetic science has shown us that we really are not.

>> What viable basis exists for justice or law if man is nothing but a sophisticated, programmed machine?

Anyone who has to ask that cannot find within themselves the morality necessary for justice or for law. Are you only moral because God tells you to be, or because you are afraid of Hell? Not because you just know you should be kind and good regardless of what someone tells you or the fear of being thrown into a lake of fire? If so I pity you and the world for your sake.

>> Why does research, discovery, diplomacy, art, music, sacrifice, compassion, feelings of love, or affectionate and caring relationships mean anything if it all ultimately comes to naught anyway?

Why does the building of a church mean anything if one day it will be in ruins? Why build churches, then? This is another nonsense question. You know what? There are, and always have been people in this world who do love discovery, art and music, who do experience and act on love and compassion, regardless of what awaits them after death, even though they have never heard of the Christian God.

>> Without absolute morals, what ultimate difference is there between Saddam Hussein and Billy Graham?

Do you really have to ask that? Anyone who would compare the evil things Sadam has done with the good that Billy Graham has done is very confused, to be kind. One does not have to believe in an eternal deity to know the difference between good and evil. Again, a good human being has an internal moral compass, a product of humanity and civilization, that knows good from evil without having to read it in the Bible or be at church or by famous televangelist & Christian authors.

>> If there is no immortality, why shouldn't all things be permitted?(Dostoyevsky)

Sounds of Silence... That question is analagous to the suggestion that since Jack doesn't live forever, then Jack should be allowed to do anything he pleases regardless of the consequences to others. Again the appeal to morality enforced only by fear of punishment after death.

>> If morality is only a relative social construct, on what basis could or should anyone ever move to interfere with cultures that practice apartheid, female circumcision, cannibalism, or ethnic cleansing?

This is the exact same question as the previous one. One does not have to be religious or believe in a hereafter in order to be a moral person. At least they should not have to...

>> If there is no God, on what basis is there any meaning or hope for fairness, comfort, or better times?

Now THIS is a GOOD ONE! Finally... Is there any hope for fairness? If so, God has not delivered. Why do innocent babies die of AIDS, if an all-powerful God could prevent it? Why do people starve, or die because they can't afford medicine, while George Bush gives wealthy Americans billions of dollars in tax breaks and government contracts (Halliburton comes to mind)? IF WE RELY ON A GOD WHO LETS BABIES DIE OF CANCER AND AIDS, EVEN THOUGH HE COULD STOP IT, THEN WE CANNOT EXPECT FAIRNESS! Fairness and Better Times come only from moral humans, those who are good despite eternal rewards or eternal punishment. Comfort can come from many sources, including the belief in an invisible, supreme being who loves you (but who will throw you in a lake of fire if you don't believe in him and say the right prayer).

>> Without a personal Creator-God, how are you anything other than the coincidental, purposeless miscarriage of nature, spinning round and round on a lonely planet in the blackness of space for just a little while before you and all memory of your futile, pointless, meaningless life finally blinks out forever in the endless darkness?

Another facade of logic and and pretense of profundity. Again... So common in fundamentalist Christian arguments. And again, this is the same question as #4 above (the mosquitoes and pigs). If we don't live forever (provided we believe in the Christian God), does that mean that noone and nothing matters? As it is written in Ecclesiastes, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity..."? I truly feel sorry for the person who believes that.

I truly feel sorry for the person who cannot find meaning, morality, kindness, compassion, goodness, love, beauty or affection within themselves without the the need to find it in another (albeit Supreme) being, and without the fear of eternal punishment to bring it to fruition.

It appears from your question that you are such a person. I truly wish you the best and hope you can find what you seek, what you think you have found, in your life.