Atheists . . . I am curious, why . . .?

Question

does it seem with no faith in Gods you believe your purpose is . . . . .what?

I am very serious and curious BTW.

What do you believe is your purpose? Human beings? This universe? If we evolved and were not created . . . why are we evolving? For what? I know I will get the normal responses and insults . . .but if someone whose belief system is Atheism could please answer . . . .the others I ignore. I am really just curious.

You know as believers in God we believe we were created for a purpose. Is Atheism like Christianity . . . .someone believed something else so they created another "denomination" of Atheism? Or are the perimeters pretty similar?

I am curious if you believe you have a purpose on this earth and what is it?

Respectfull y asking with Please and Thank You

Ok so you believe you do not necessarily have a purpose . . .

We are just here . . . .

We just evolved to a complex being . . . .

for no reason?

Again just respectfully asking out of curiousity!

thank you for respectfully answering

Answer 1

Good question. As an atheist I'll try to answer. The difference may be, among many others, that you think there must be a "purpose". Well, why does a belief in God give one a purpose?
And what is that purpose?

I don't know that I have a purpose here. And what difference does it really make. We are here. We are here now. What we do with our lives will not only affect us, as a living being, but others to follow.

If you look at it that way, there is not much of a difference between people that believe in a God and those that don't.

There is a lot more to the issue, but I figure that's a start.

That is my respectful response.

I like the way you framed your question by the way.

Answer 2

The assumption of God in the culture has placed the assumption of an externally given purpose high in our societal consciousness. It's not unusual to have the question arise when coming into contact for the first time with atheists.

In this way, atheists have a lot in common with existentialists. There is no purpose to our lives other than the one we assume. Society's religions give a purpose that is ready made, and many may find them better for that very reason. Others of us, though, relish the idea of fashioning our own individual senses of purpose.

As for human beings, we are exactly as any other life form on the planet. Because we have a more sophisticated language, we know more than a lot of creatures about history and science, but that's just using our evolved capacity to its best advantage. The giant tortoise does the same with its shell.

The universe has energy, and from that energy, matter formed and proceeded on the path that led to life. By that, we are simply echoes of the Big Bang. We don't know what came before the Big Bang, and in many ways, the question is nonsensical, because not only did the universe begin with the Big Bang, but time itself also began then.

Atheism has no organization like Christianity or Islam. There are no Atheist dogmas. The only common ground is the lack of belief in any God. Just like tourists who go to see the Grand Canyon to gawk in wonder at the effects of erosion, coming to see it because of what is NOT there, the wonder of atheists is what is not there...a faith in the supernatural.

There is one recognized division among Atheists, although we are highly respectful of one another. Soft atheists believe that the evidence strongly suggests that no God exists or has influence over life. However, they remain open to the possibility that a God might possibly exist, however unlikely. Hard atheists actively that there is no God. Period. Both groups tend to lead their lives in similar fashions, which means primarily, in any way they choose.

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Answer 3

Well the first question is what do you think you were "created" for? You as a individual person, not as simply one of billions of human beings. What is your purpose? The next question is this - why do we need to have a purpose? Why is it so necessary that we as a species need a purpose - to feel important? Or is it just that this life is so miserable sometimes that we're willing to latch onto anything that makes us feel as though we're not alone? Why is it so hard to imagine that all of this - life, the whole universe, isn't just one big random freak? I don't understand the need for faith. No insult intended, but it seems like a sign of weakness to me. It takes more not to believe in god/gods controlling everything. It just seems too easy to trust that someone other than ourselves is "in charge" of our lives.

To answer the question as to why we evolve, that's simple - we evolve so that we as a species can survive. Things evolve all around us all the time.

My personal purpose is just this - to be a good person, to be as helpful, tolerant, loving, intelligent, and happy as I can be, and to make those around me as happy and comfortable as possible. And I do all this with no faith, no indoctrination, and no expectation of reward. Virtue is truly it's own reward - I don't need threats of hell to make me behave the way society expects we all should.

Answer 4

Just maybe we don't have a purpose. Is that ok. I mean really. So we evolved, doesn't make us special. We are arrogant and as people must assume, because we here, we have a purpose. You and me, we, aren't important.
However, now that we are here lets make the best of it. Find your own purpose. You create it. I am a good person. I have found my purpose. I have transended, and I did it all without a belife in any supernatural being. Just maybe it is within us, not from out there.
This is how I feel. Take it or leave it.

Answer 5

I'm here to leave this world a little better than it was when I entered. I'm here to care for my family and friends, set as good an example as I possibly can, treat others the way I would want to be treated, learn from my mistakes, and try my hardest to show a good character. I'm here to accomplish all I can -- even though it's a really overused phrase -- to make this world a better place.

That's a purpose that I created for myself. Neither God nor any other higher being told me to do it; I'm here right now, and that's what I've concluded I should be doing with my time here.

Answer 6

You seem to be asking, if your not religious why do you live because without religion how do you find a purpose in it? I can not answer for other poeple i can only answer for myself.

Living is natural i.e. we are born with the innate desire to eat and breath etc... hence if you want to counteract these innate desires i.e. to not live, it takes consious effort to do so. So in a way choosing to live is not a choice but choosing to die can be. So why do we atheists live? Because we choose not to choose death.

Only when one encounters true adversity does one really question the purpose of their existence, so why i guess you're asking without the purpose found with religion does one continue to exist especially when such adversity is encountered ... good question. Well the answer is they find purpose elsewhere, where else could be as varied as the amount of atheists out their. Me, i exist to find myself, for the chance of further insight into the question of my existence, to become a better and wiser person. God may existence but i don't know that, religion appears to me through my logical mind a source of desperate comfort for scared people, and i can understand that for being alive scares me also. Life is extremely whimsical and trying, i could die, be paralysed, mutilated and the world would offer me no compassion and i would continue living just because i don't want to kill myself. The reason i live is because i can take my own life at any moment so it can always wait. Sometimes that's the reason, other times i am just so fascinated with the world and what i can learn. I live for the hope of a happier existence, of what form it will take i don't know. As the Dalai Lama says (i am not buddist) we live to find happiness, this is true.

Answer 7

Well, why do trees, bugs, fish and lions evolve? The ultimate goal in all of life is to live long enough to procreate. Evolution is the means by which we can be more successful at procreating.
What is my purpose? To have a healthy, happy life and share it with someone. To have a child and raise them in a manner that they too can have children. I can do this without believing in a fairy tale.

Answer 8

Complex by what definition? We still have a long way to go! On the track of full evolution, we're about...just off the starting line.

We currently have no purpose other than to do what we've been doing, evolve!

Answer 9

Not everything needs to have a purpose, we're here so we might as well enjoy it. Now let me ask you this, you believe that everyone has some sort of meaning to their life, so what's the meaning of god's life? What's his purpose?

Answer 10

Different atheists have different purposes, but mine is to live my life the way I want to and that doesn't include Christianity.