Whats the point of living if your an atheist...?

Question

What do you truely beleive is going to happen when you die? are you in agreement with aristotle's "pool" theory where your soul just returns to the sea of soul?.....where do atheists get their morals and what is it that keeps an atheist from doing imoral things..........I mean no disrespect to atheists im just curious as to how you go about your life (moraly)

ok......i can see where you all coming from....but you see how meek and meaningless your life is just by observing your answer to my question....you assume that since i ask a spiritual question i am a bible beating christian trying to aquire more "slaves" for my God. you are lashing out at someone who is curious and looking for other points of view of life.....next time you choose to hold a conversation you might sound a little more intelegent if you dont assume you know the person based on one question.

here's what im hearing..... you live because you want to....understandable......your "moral" because of:

A. consicuences

B. "common sense"

C: Society

You think all christians are "slaves" that the lives of christians are horrible because they devote their life to something above this world.

your also angry at "Christians" it seems as a whole......

you also assume i know nothing of atheism..... which is partly correct (hence the question)

im sorry if i offended anyone.....it was not my intention

im trying to gather information from "real people"

And yes im horrible at spelling. Sue me.

im a 16 year old freshman in a public highschool.... i like to try to understand why people do the things they do.....you call me uneducated?! im typing fast as to keep up with the pace of the argument..... im no where near uneducated.... ive studied the historical and literary concepts of select passages, ive gone to many different churches, ive been to 13 different schools in 3 different states ..... im not gloating but jeeze......why cant a simple conversation be held without you people barging in and swearing all about how im trying to indoctrinate me...... this was just to get some feedback...

indocrinate you*** (see)

Answer 1

an atheist's purpose in life is usually to live happily and to create a happier environment for others to live in as well. This is also the source of their morals

sounds like a decent purpose to me

Answer 2

My friend, you started something I do not feel you can finish.
A little advice my daddy taught me once and only once. Don't pick a fight that you cannot win. You just did as some of your answers tell you.

I am a Christian and found your question very upsetting and inflammatory. And that is from a moral view point.

There are better ways to ask curious questions than just trying to beat up another group of people. Example... you could have started out by telling the viewers that you don't know anything about atheism and you just want to find out a few things.

Next time you have a brilliant idea and go after an entire group of people, do your homework on the subject matter first and follow up with logical and meaningful questions without all the offensive undertones AND overtones.

God bless you and may He heal all the wounds that you inflicted and were returned unto you.

Answer 3

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 talk of meaninglessness … well … meaningless. We have made considerable moral progress over the years, and we didn't make this progress by reading the Bible or the Koran more closely. Both books condone the practice of slavery — and yet every civilized human being now recognizes that slavery is an abomination. Whatever is good in scripture — like the golden rule — can be valued for its ethical wisdom without our believing that it was handed down to us by the creator of the universe. If a person doesn't already understand that cruelty is wrong, he won't discover this by reading the Bible or the Koran — as these books are bursting with celebrations of cruelty, both human and divine. We do not get our morality from religion. We decide what is good in our good books by recourse to moral intuitions that are (at some level) hard-wired in us and that have been refined by thousands of years of thinking about the causes and possibilities of human happiness.

Answer 4

"Whats the point of living if your an atheist...?"
Have you asked a dog or cat this question? I don't think that any of them believe in god, but they still want to live. As the man said "the cost of living is high, but it's still popular."
"What do you truely beleive is going to happen when you die?"
Exactly what I see happening to any other dead animal lying around.
"are you in agreement with aristotle's "pool" theory where your soul just returns to the sea of soul?....."
If I don't believe the superstitions of christianity, why would I believe the superstitions of Aristotle?
"where do atheists get their morals"
The same place you do- the society around you and my reactions to it.
"and what is it that keeps an atheist from doing imoral things.........."
The same things that keep you from doing immoral things- the consquences. We just disagree as to where they are weighed.
"I mean no disrespect to atheists im just curious as to how you go about your life (moraly)"
The laws of the country we live in are not religious commandments. I don't have to be a christian or a member of any other religion to follow them, nor to come to my own conclusions as to which of them are just or unjust.
You think that the moral commandments you follow come from god. I don't. That's all there is to it.
Well, I read your additional comments, so had to edit this. It really is foolish of you to tell other people to write more intelligently when you yourself can't spell or write a grammatically correct sentence. Get some education, then maybe you'll have something sensible to say.

Answer 5

I truly believe that when we die, our hearts stop beating, our brains stop functioning and then, nothing. No soul, no tunnel, no light, no family members to greet you, no god.

Where do we get our morals? For me, it's common sense. It grieves me that more people don't understand that. Don't hurt others, don't steal, don't murder, etc. I don't change my mind on that (as another poster said in another question) and I don't see why everyone can't just use their head and follow the rules of being a human on this earth.

What keeps me from doing immoral things is just that they are wrong. Period. I also don't use the bible to determine what is moral. Look at it this way... the majority of the country is Christian... yet our crime rate is going up every year. You do the math.

I know that this life is all I have so I have to make the most of it. I have to be good to others. I have to help others. I have to take care of myself and my family. I don't steal or lie or cheat because they are wrong... by ANYONE'S decency standards. I don't need to be threatened with damnation or promised eternal life in order to behave... and neither should anyone else.

Answer 6

The first thing to understand is that religion is not necessary to impart morals. They need not come from some higher power, but will evolve of necessity in order for a species with intelligence to cooperate. Many species have either morals, or some analogue to such; this is how they are able to work together.

Atheists are by no means in entire agreement as to a soul that exists without the body. Some believe that there is nothing after death, while some believe that a soul does continue, and some believe in reincarnation.

The point of morals is really weak. Many Christians try to say that morals come from god, but there is simply no justification to say that man without god would be without morals or justice. That is simply a viewpoint held by a group trying to claim that all good comes from their god, who then offer the good that does exist as evidence of their god, but who are unwilling to take as evidence the good that is done by those who don't believe in their god.

No god is necessary for justice, good works, selflessness or morals. These can all be eplained through evolution.

That said, I do believe in deity. I may not be a Christian, but I am a believer. I am merely pointing out that the atheist position is much better thought-out than many Christians give them credit for. Much better in fact than the positions held by many Christians.

Answer 7

Most people who are answering this question are being total buttheads! The guy only asked a question because he was curious and wanted a real atheist's point of view instead of asking other christians (such as a priest or some other form of clergy) who will probably answer in a way that makes your way of living seem crazy. he wanted an honest opinion, and you're just making atheists look like big meanies.

and another thing: i don't think the way he was asking this was offensive to atheists at all... so why are you mocking his religion? he was respectful, so you should be too!

Answer 8

When I die I am dead. If there is some kind of spirit or energy I do not believe that it is connected to a god of any kind.

We get our morals from common sense. Every person of sound mind knows right from wrong. Wrong is any action that causes harm to any living creature. Although everyone knows right from wrong it is a matter of character how we act concerning that knowledge. All wrong is done because of selfishness of some kind. However morality is a relative term. For instance I am heterosexual but I am not against homosexuality. But xtians and other religions are. This is why I base my morality on not doing harm.

It would seem to me that if all a person is living for is to die and go to heaven then the world we live in now is not important to them.
When people stop looking to the sky for answers to problems they will learn to fix those problems themselves.

Answer 9

Ok, you know what. God is just a fairy tale for scared little religious people such as your selves. Keep telling yourselves everyday that god will let you into heaven. The fact is, when is the last time you saw something truely miraculous pertaining to the "Lord"? Never, the bible is just some fairytale bulls h i t that some ancient Hippie on some narcotic plant decided to write, and call himself Jesus. I go about my life accepting that death is innevitable, and happens to all. Cuz you know what, what would i care if i was dead, it's not like i'll have the capability of knowing i was dead. If you ask me death is the ultimate vacation, at least it would keep me from having to deal with morons who write questions like yours.

Answer 10

when i die, i'm dead. the end. my "soul" doesn't go anywhere.

i get my morals from myself. i don't kill people simply because i believe it's wrong. i don't need a book to tell me this.

and if all your morals come from a book, then i don't see them as being morals at all. is the only thing holding you back from running around raping and killing people because the bible says it's wrong? if so, then that's a scary concept for me.

and the "point" in living is that it's life. i have a short time here, i may as well make it worth it by living the best life and i can and trying to be as happy as i can and by making others as happy as i can. honestly, i think if you look at the "point" of your life as preparation for the "afterlife," then you're never going to really fully enjoy the time that you have on this planet.

and my life is not "meek and meaningless," you arrogant asshole. i have a great life and i live it to the best. every day i live means somethign to me and the people around me.

you say how dare we assume things about you--well how dare you assume things about us?

Answer 11

I feel so sorry for you .
You think that morality comes from religion. That is very unfortunate. You opress and restrict yourself daily all for hopes of an after life... how pathetic it is .

I live for now, and for today. I treat people how i would want to be treated, that keeps me moral, that keeps me happy.

I want to have a succesfull family life, people that i love around me, i want to be filled with good things, good people, good books, good food, with a good life, everyday. I want to make sure that everyone that comes in my path is treated kindly and never regrets being in my path. I am not religious, and my morals are grounded in reality.

I dont know know what will happen when i die, and i am not here to wonder about death, ia m here to live my life, everyday, and to be the best that ican be in this immediate life that i have.

Look up at the night sky, you are insignificant, there is nothing you can do but care for what is immediatly around you, the people that you love and the things that bring you joy. I am human and i LIVE my life, instead of opressess myself in hopes for a better afterlife.

What are you religious folks going to do when there is no afterlife? wouldnt that be one huge rip off?