"Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." - Haggai 1:5-6.
Is this your sentiment? While you search for meaning in life, do you just find the whole thing meaningless? Is anything really fulfilling? Do you have any hope? Is it all just cruel?
2007-02-03 13:54:29 · 36 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Be careful my friend on who you address the question to, because I know Christians who would fit this description. No one is perfect and even we fall short of the glory of God.
2007-02-03 14:02:35 · answer #1 · answered by GraycieLee 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
My life is happier and more fulfilled than a good many of my theistic friends, so there goes your (stolen) theory.
Try and come up with something original if you even want a shot at debating atheists (sigh.)
By the way... how do you explain the unfulfilled lives of these atheists?
Bill Gates
Warren Buffett
Andrew Carnegie
Issac Assimov
Albert Einstein
Carl Sagan
Hellen Keller
Howard Hughes
Woody Allen
Noam Chomsky
Michael Crichton
Dr. Francis Crick
Jodie Foster
Mira Sorvino
Janeane Garofalo
Mao Tse-tung
Francois Mitterrand
Joe Haldeman
Gore Vidal
Sir Alfred Hitchcock
William Shatner
Stanley Kubrick
Ursula K. LeGuine
Salman Rushdie
Stephen Jay Gould
Sir Ian McKellen
Jack Nicholson
Frank Mullen
Arthur Miller
Roman Polanski
James Randi
Ron Reagan Jr.
Larry Flynt
Pierre Boulez
Mikhail Gorbachev
Benjamin Spock
Burt Lancaster
Richard Dawkins
Katharine Hepburn
Douglas Adams
Penn Jillette
Harlan Ellison
Arthur C. Clarke
Quentin Crisp
Christopher Reeve
Clive Barker
Teller
Michael Crichton
Billy Joel – Musician
Max von Sydow
Virginia Woolf
Sir John Gielgud
Richard Feynman
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
David Cronenberg
Robert Frost
Marie Curie
2007-02-03 13:59:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 1⤋
Life as Atheists see it is meaningless on it's own right. In fact, there's two ways to go about it, considering all life special because it is life, or that it's all too common to be special.
It's not really much different then what you would think. Atheists live their lives happily, guided by their own moral code, which though not based on a faith contains many similar values. Sure they question it's value sometimes, but that no different then anybody else.
But the real question here isn't if they have hope or not. It's already settled in your mind, because you've put up the wall and chosen sides in your first passage. You quote religious scripture and expect fair responses. That's about the same as somebody saying god doesn't exist and asking you how you can believe in something as real as the tooth fairy. It's an attacking question with roots in animosity.
Rather then trying to attack someone subtly, why not try to learn more from actual people you know, I'm sure you've got at least one non-practicing Christian friend or maybe even an Atheist of your own, wouldn't it be better to talk to them in person with someone who can react normally rather then face potential bias on the internet?
To summarize, Atheists feel life is only worth what they put into it.
2007-02-03 14:07:54 · answer #3 · answered by Brian 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That is a consequence of not knowing everything. I constantly am learning more, I have hunger and a thirst for knowledge that can not be quenched.
I do not find it at all meaningless, I can put my knowledge to use as I can help make the world a better place.
I enjoy life very much, I enjoy learning new things and I enjoy never being satisfied with a simple understanding of how things work.
2007-02-03 14:03:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No way, in fact life is way more fulfilling when you get past the ridiculous faerie tales, and focus on life.
I am sorry that life is so unfulfilling for you.
Might I suggest you leave your self deprecating dogmatic ways behind, and focus on living the life at hand.
Don't worry about what happens afterward, you will have plenty of time to deal with that as well.
Here's to hoping you feel better!
2007-02-03 13:58:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
I have lots of meaning in my life. Just because I don't worship your god doesn't mean all hope is lost. So I live my life differently than you do. So what? I don't worry about whether you are going to heaven or hell. Although most likely all that's going to happen to you is that you get put in a hole in the ground and wind up being worm food. So why do you worry about me?
2007-02-03 13:58:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Here:
10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism (Sam Harris)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,6970228,full.story
1) Atheists believe that life is meaningless.
On the contrary, religious people often worry that life is meaningless and imagine that it can only be redeemed by the promise of eternal happiness beyond the grave. Atheists tend to be quite sure that life is precious. Life is imbued with meaning by being really and fully lived. Our relationships with those we love are meaningful now; they need not last forever to be made so. Atheists tend to find this fear of meaninglessness … well … meaningless.
2007-02-03 13:58:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 0⤋
nope, I don't search for meaning in life. I give meaning to my life.
Interesting choice of verse, considering Haggai 1:5-6 is part of a bit where god is bothering people because he wants them to build him a temple. Seriously, he keeps pestering them until they build the damn temple.
2007-02-03 14:00:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No. We're not searching for meaning in life. We have already found it. Believing that someone else is in control of our life and our destiny is predestined just doesn't appeal much to me. And then there's all those absurdies in religion.
Furthermore, we feel that we should live for now. We have hope for the future, and life is by no means meaningless.
2007-02-03 13:59:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
I'm a humanist and have a feeling of spirituality far beyond religion. Through the eyes of science, I have a new level of consciousness and awareness. It's a very humbling thought to know that we, humans, are not special.
2007-02-03 14:06:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow. Are you ever way off. No, I don't follow that sentiment at all. I find life to be full of meaning and very satisfying. Really, it's whatever you make of it.
Is the only meaning in your life your imaginary friend? That's very sad to me.
2007-02-03 14:02:17 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋